The beginning, the very long middle and the end
by Support
Summary: A journey through Shikamaru and Temari's whole story from both points of view, from childhood to becoming a family. More accurate to say it's a sequential set of drabbles through important moments in their lives including events in the manga (not anime). Kishimoto never fully developed Temari's story so I've tried to develop her side with respect to canon. Cover image is by 子ちゃん.
1. Chapter 1 - His beginning

**I don't own naruto.**

 **I know, it came as a shock to me too.**

 **Shikamaru is hilarious and awesome, but man was he an annoying little brat sometimes.**

* * *

When she first met him, he was a child.

He may have been more intelligent than most adults and had somewhat unusual habits ( _"He's a fricking old man_!" according to Ino), but there was no doubt that he was… innocent. Shikamaru never suffered (much), did not know loss and treated the world like a fool. In fact the only demons he had claimed to have were the fairer sex (" _Why did you marry that harpy, dad? Women are so troublesome!"_ for some reason Shikamaru often got grounded).

He lived in a village that was prosperous, lush and peaceful. He loved the forests, the nature and the peace. Shikamaru had known in a textbook sort of way that he was very fortunate. He knew that somewhere outside of his village there were struggles, fighting and wars. He also knew that he was among the more fortunate as the heir to the Nara clan with close links to the hokage's family. But knowledge without experience is limited, experience takes effort and Shikamaru did not believe in excessive effort.

He was satisfied with just the knowledge. Shikamaru was very innocent.

He didn't stress about his future very much. Shikamaru was a little annoyed that he had no siblings to inherit the responsibilities of his father, but that was in the far and distant future and the boy couldn't imagine anyone besting his father. For now he was free.

His dreams were of long lazy days playing his games and watching unusual clouds in the blue sky.

* * *

 **For those who're new to this story, welcome! I hope you'll enjoy this.**

 **For those who've read this before, just a bit of extremely late grammar correction and fixing up of the finished chapters. Nothing to go crazy over, please do carry on with your lives.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Her beginning

**I still don't own naruto. I'm still surprised.**

 **For those who think that I am very efficient and will release a million chapters a day...you will be disappointed. I only released so many today after days of writing and re-writing and trying to get the stupid tenses right.**

 **Please R because I am lazy.**

* * *

When he first met her, she was already a murderer.

She hadn't quite grown into an adult yet and had just become susceptible to crushes (" _I don't get it."_ Kankuro stated blankly, " _Why an emo?"_ ), but behind her mocking eyes was…steel.

She had experienced her fair share of assassinations as the eldest sand sibling; Temari started dealing with them herself by the time she was old enough to hold a weapon straight. She even had to protect Kankuro a few times when he was too inexperienced, whilst Gaara…had no issues in that regard.

Temari had learnt the importance of strength and took pride in taking down enemies; it was the preferable alternative to fear.

She lived in a village that was constantly in flux. There was always a power struggle somewhere; a struggle for money, for power, for gold. The only constant was the relentless and unforgiving sand. This was expected of a home with limited resources and even fewer exports.

Only the strong survive, and only the strongest thrive. Temari knew this and fought for everything she had every day. She fought for recognition from her father, fought for her life, for her pride and for some semblance of peace. She wasn't really sure about her feelings towards Kankuro or Gaara, she didn't know if she even liked them, but she fought for them anyway because they belonged to her and her to them.

She didn't dream often, but when she did, it was of harsh desert dunes underneath the beautiful stars.

* * *

 **I hope this feels realistic, or at least as realistic as a ninja manga can hope to be.**

 **I didn't want to go the full emo 'Oh she had the WORST life' kind of route, but it definitely wasn't a picnic in a park is what I'm saying.**

 **I just wanted to show a reason why the sand siblings were such asshats in the beginning, I like to think it's because they had no patience for weakness, and for good reason!**

 **Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3 - His fight

**I don't own Naruto, that is why I am poor.**

 **Please review. That is all.**

* * *

When he first fought her, he really wasn't feeling it.

Females were just annoying to deal with (" _Gooooo Shikamaru!"_ cheered Ino depressingly clearly) and he really, really just wanted a nap. Why did everyone expect so much from him anyway? All he wanted was a vaguely interesting job, a relaxing life and perhaps a quiet family in the future. A nondescript wife, a son who becomes an adequate ninja and a daughter who will be married off or something.

However a well-timed kick from Naruto, a seed of an interesting strategy and the microscopic amount of pride he had of not wanting to lose to a girl combined to just about stir him into making an effort.

He had to admit it was vaguely enjoyable, his opponent not being a complete fool helped. He couldn't really remember much about her apart from an unusual hairstyle (" _Look who's talking"_ she had scoffed years later) and a ridiculously annoying weapon. He did however remember thinking that she would be all brawn and no brain with that flashy fan, so she surprised him a little with her wariness.

And this was his whole impression of her. It wasn't much.

It didn't ultimately matter how careful she was anyway. His plan went through without a hitch (as expected), he had expended as much effort as he had planned to, and then he walked away.

It was all too troublesome.

He pretended not to notice her gazing at him afterwards and, wary of revenge, tried to stay as inconspicuous in his body language as possible. _I'm just a lazy little brat who isn't worth your time,_ he tried to indicate, _you don't want to cause any trouble_. He had no idea how girls think and didn't care to know. Ultimately Shikamaru couldn't stand hassle, and women were practically trouble personified with their inability to not overreact.

However a quick glance from the corner of his eyes showed her expression and it was surprisingly not murderous...and even relatively calm. This might have merit some interest in a normal situation. But by then the wonderboy had arrived, there was much fanfare and it immediately became all about Sasuke (for some reason, things usually did). Shikamaru didn't think of the sand kunoichi again, and that was that.

And so Shikamaru had gone into that fight as a boy and left it much the same. The only change being feeling a little more justified in his thoughts of the world than before. Shikamaru only knew that he never wanted to fight another annoying woman again.

* * *

 **Gosh that little punk was lazy. But so damn cool. I remembered when I first read this battle I just thought it was the best thing ever, that I wanted to be so smart that I could be as lazy as I liked and still be successful.**

 **Damn the real world for teaching me that I need to work hard! And earn money! And respect my parents!**

 **Please Review**


	4. Chapter 4 - Her fight

**Still not owning naruto, still poor**

 **I love Temari, sure her hairstyle was strange and she wasn't such a nice girl in the beginning, but I think she's one of the only girls in naruto who properly curb stumped the enemy to rescue a guy in a chapter.**

 **She is cool.**

 **Too bad she didn't get much screentime later, but seeing the way Kishimoto sometimes struggles with writing female characters makes me think that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. You either disappear a hero or live to become a confused female characterisation I guess.**

 **Please R!**

* * *

When she first fought him, she was on edge.

The invasion plan was already in jeopardy and she really didn't feel like fighting a weakling. But it would be far too suspicious if two sand siblings forfeited consecutively and so she obliged.

She didn't expect much from him at all, her pride and strength was everything to her after all, and here was certainly not a person with much of either. Soft brats like him wouldn't last long in Sunagakure.

And so she went into battle as she always did against a weakling, impatient and mocking and more than a little cruel. What awaited her was total humiliation.

 _She was tricked! By a half assed little brat! And then he let her go as if it didn't matter!_

All her life she was prepared for death; for someone bigger, faster, stronger or even just more desperate to be the end of her.

 _That was how it was supposed to be!_

In fact Temari had always imagined that Gaara would be the one to kill her in the end and she was strangely fine with the idea (She suspected Kankuro felt the same way, it was probably guilt related).

She shouldn't have been beaten in this way, not by a boy who was so obviously weaker than her in all the major things that matter to a shinobi!

 _He was meant to be a one trick pony who was a little smart!_

For a hot second she couldn't move for the shock and had a feeling of falling into an endless pit.

Then she saw the look in Kankuro's face.

 _Get yourself together, this isn't what's important!_ his eyes seemed to say.

The unspoken words woke her up and she let go of the breath she hadn't realized that she was holding. And she felt better; as if all the tension over the years has left her body in one go. She didn't realize how very much a child she still was.

 _My pride isn't worth the mission_

She quietly re-joined her siblings. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to.

She found herself gazing curiously at the opponent who bested her, a mixture of admiration and a touch of residual shame. Perhaps if she didn't assume his weakness the battle would have been different.

 _He is intelligent, but that laziness is exploitable._

And that was her impression of him, because there were more important things going on.

And so Temari had gone into that battle as a girl and left it almost an adult, painfully learning the price of pride. She never underestimated her opponents again.

* * *

 **I think this was around the time she stopped being mean, my mind is fuzzy though.**


	5. Chapter 5 - His invasion

**Don't own naruto, I am bitter about it.**

 **I love Shikamaru's laziness, it's so fun to write!**

 **Please R and R as my lethargy cannot be underestimated**

 **I think I really undersold Shikamaru's seriousness here, so I've updated it. It's a little better now methinks...**

* * *

When the attempted invasion occurred Shikamaru was just about done with the day.

 _Oh for the love of-! This just sucks!_

The boy had rolled his eyes and quickly fell down on the most comfortable patch of ground he found.

As everything was going to go a bit crazy for a while, he decided a spot of playing dead was just what he needed.

 _Let someone else deal with it, it's too much hassle_.

Of course that didn't last for long, and after a dog bite and a brief refreshing run he was dragged into a battle again, when he stupidly decided to buy more time for some classmates he wasn't even particularly fond of.

 _Becoming a decoy? I must have gone temporarily insane,_ he thought miserably to himself, he **REALLY** wasn't the heroic type.

But even he knew that there were times when doing nothing was not an option.

When push came to shove, when the cards were down...Shikamaru would die for his home.

Of course that was all very well, but it was still pretty embarrassing how quickly he ended up running out of chakra during the fight.

Shikamaru briefly cursed the sand girl for taking up so much of his time earlier.

 _Why couldn't she have fallen at the first hurdle_?

He had then gritted his teeth and threw away the thought, it was useless in the situation.

Thankfully Asuma came just in the nick of time to save his hide, and as soon as the last sound ninja fell Shikamaru relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, relief in knowing that his limbs were still wonderfully attached.

The boy then collapsed on the ground with very little inclination of getting up anytime soon. He could only take so much responsibility in a day, surely you couldn't ask for more from a genin?

Despite the near death experiences that he had survived, Shikamaru was still very childish.

When things had died down and he found out the truth about everything that had happened, Shikamaru found himself not being surprised that the sand siblings turned out to be enemies. It made sense with everything else. He vaguely wondered about the punishment that they would be given, before deciding that it didn't really matter as Konoha was never particularly harsh with retributions.

Then the surprising promotion came.

He wasn't very interested in becoming a Chuunin, it seemed like so much _effort_ after all, and had considered rejecting it.

But he knew that it was one of the third hokage's last wishes, and so out of respect for the old man and for his sensei he had put on the jacket. The man had died protecting this peaceful village that he loved to the very end, it was probably time that he put something on the line, as reluctant as he was.

 _Who knows? It might even be interesting_.

Shikamaru had then sighed. He had a sinking feeling that his carefree days were going to end sooner rather than later.

* * *

 **I find it hard to write Shikamaru's emerging serious side. Laziness is more fun. Please R!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Her invasion

**I don't own naruto, WHY?**

 **Oh wow this chapter is so long...**

 **I can't believe Kishimoto made the sand siblings orphans AND created a political disturbance in their village and never really mentioned it.**

 **I've changed the ending a little in this chapter, because I felt it was too melodramatic and cheesy. Hopefully it reads a little better now!**

* * *

To be honest Temari couldn't quite remember the details of the invasion. She remembered a mess of the senses; the sharp smell of explosives, the sound of screams, the weight of her brother...but her mind never managed to piece it together into a tidy film of memories, and she was at peace with that.

She could however recall the exact moment she found out about her father's death and that her people were tricked into the moronic invasion plans. That was certainly crystal clear.

It was kind of a shit moment.

The funeral was arranged hurriedly before the body completely rotted. The sand siblings had stood at the front of their father's funeral march, dressed in dark robes. They didn't cry, because their father was the kazekage, and Temari wasn't sure that they knew how.

Temari didn't know what she thought of her father. She recalled a very strict man, one who was hard on himself and always spoke of the village. A very sad man who never smiled from his eyes.

He never had time for his children, with Gaara being the exception. Their twisted relationship was well known to her even when the adults were actively hiding it from her and Kankuro.

She could tell just from the look on his face that an assassination attempt on Gaara had failed, or if he was imagining the destruction of the village by Shukaku. The lines on his face would get deeper and he had a particular way of frowning that never escaped her attention.

Temari knew she was a failed candidate for Shukaku's vessel, she wasn't sure if she was relieved or jealous that Gaara took the role.

But if there was one thing she didn't want to forget about her father, it would be of one hot summer's evening when her mother was still alive and pregnant with Gaara.

That day she remembered seeing her father coming in, a younger and less lined man. He had ignored Temari on the floor and was talking in a low voice with her mother, a worried expression on his face.

Temari remembered being angry at the lack of attention and had shouted out for him. Called his name. Her mother had looked up, strangely delighted, and had grabbed her father excitedly.

And father had looked at her and smiled.

It was the earliest memory she could remember. She never told the other two about it.

The next few weeks were an uncertain and confusing time and she was forever grateful to Baki for being there for them. They never said it out loud of course, they didn't work that way, but he knew it anyway.

She helped where she could, attending every meeting about the village's future, making sure herself and her brothers were heard. Temari was always the most diplomatic speaker of the sand siblings and found herself surprisingly good at this type of work. Kankuro was too hot headed and Gaara was Gaara, so the teachers had placed the most effort into teaching Temari when it came to topics such as negotiation and politics, international relations and law. She was grateful to them, and grateful to Konoha for their help after everything that had happened. Temari was certain that if their villages' roles were swapped Sunagakure would, in its current form, have gone for blood.

And that was the thing. Sunagakure couldn't hope to survive as it was now; hopelessly sinking into a depression with lasting stability escaping its grasp. It didn't deserve it, and its people didn't deserve it.

She believed in this village despite all its flaws, believed in the strength of it, its harsh beauty and resilience. She was proud to be Sunan.

Temari didn't know what Sunakagure needs, but she was going to find it or die trying.

* * *

 **Please R and R**


	7. Chapter 7 - Her rescue

**I'm bored of not owning things.**

 **I've always wondered how the siblings were recruited on this mission when they live three days away and also how they managed to find all the action just when things were getting dangerous. I kind of imagined them standing behind a rock going "Not yet!"**

 **This chapter doesn't really fit in with the others does it? I'm not sure whether I should change it or not...**

 **As always reviews are welcome!**

 **Update: grammar fixing and swapping chapters.**

* * *

"The mission request is this: Locate the Konoha team, assess the situation and act according. Whether this means the continuation of the mission or the retrieval of survivors, I would leave to your judgement."

Tsunade placed her hands palms down on the table.

"Do you accept?"

Temari glanced at Kankuro. They had just arrived in the village after three days of travel for the purpose of a village meeting when they were immediately summoned to the Hokage's office.

 _He's going to blow._

Sure enough the purple faced youth was opening his mouth in protest.

"Why are we sorting out your-!"

Temari jabbed his ribs hard and gave him a warning look.

 _We are building relations here, behave!_ Her eyes said.

Kankuro gave her an annoyed look and turned away, muttering to himself.

"Who are the team members and what are their abilities?" Gaara's quiet voice spoke next. Temari and Kankuro both glanced at their brother.

They were standing in their usual formation; Gaara in front with his arms folded, his siblings right behind him. It was the same position that they had kept since their first mission, but Temari knew that the feelings between them were anything but the same.

Ever since the invasion business, Gaara had changed. The last time they were in Konoha their roles were essentially that of a wild animal and its untrained handlers. Now...she wasn't quite sure what they are.

Gaara had opened up a whole can of emotions that all three of them were carefully feeling their way around.

 _It's like standing in a field where every blade of grass is a razor,_

Temari smiled ruefully to herself.

 _and we are fumbling towards each other, trying desperately not to be cut to shreds._

In addition, Temari was pleasantly surprised at how well this new Gaara (or was this the old Gaara? The fragile boy she had glimpsed once long ago?) conducted himself in the village meetings. This was in spite of his lack of experience and his…well…frankly murderous history. He had a refreshingly earnest and clear sighted political voice, and Temari found herself daring to hope for...something.

"The team is led by Nara Shikamaru-"

Temari's ears pricked up.

"-and consists of Uzumaki Naruto-"

She saw her youngest sibling's face showing an emotion. Precisely what emotion it wasn't clear, but it was most certainly an emotion.

"-Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba and Akimichi Chouji. I also have it under good authority that Rock Lee has left the village and has most likely joined them."

Tsunade smiled briefly.

"I think you all know of their abilities."

"A group of genin?" Temari couldn't help but ask, "They aren't weak, but is there no one more senior that Konoha can spare?"

"Nara has been promoted to Chuunin, he was marked out by the Hokage before his death."

"I see." Temari was thoughtful over this information.

 _I guess it's not surprising._

"We accept." Gaara's answer was prompt.

And so that was how Temari found herself travelling rapidly through the forest, with a group of medical ninja trailing behind and Gaara scouting ahead with his sand eyes.

"3km at 11 o' clock, there's a casualty but no enemies." he said suddenly.

"Who is it?" this came from the leading medical ninja, a neat middle aged woman.

"The one with the body expansion jutsu."

"Got it! You two," the woman gestured two of her team, "go!"

"Don't send your best, 15km at 1 o'clock. The shinobi with the white eyes. No enemies."

Gaara's voice was calm.

"He doesn't have much time left. There's a hole near his heart and another in his abdomen."

"Fine. Kai, with me! We will retrieve Hyuuga Neji." The woman turned to her right hand woman,

"Hana, you're second in command, follow their instructions."

And with that the medical team reduced in half.

Suddenly the Temari felt it, a strong chakra signal within her range of senses.

She glanced at her brother, "Gaara." She murmured.

"The shadow shinobi, 50km at 2 o' clock with an enemy." he paused briefly, "There are two more further ahead, the canine shinobi, 80km at 10 o'clock and Rock Lee 130km at 12 o' clock. Both engaged with enemy units."

"We're not going to make it at this rate." she heard Kankuro muttering and glancing behind them, "They're too slow!"

"That's fine, they aren't combat units." Temari replied, and before she could stop herself, "I'll take the closest enemy unit."

This wasn't like her. Usually they would determine the characteristics of the enemies first before they split up. Gaara would fight the strongest (in the not too distant past, he would have killed them if they tried to take his prey from him) and out of the leftovers Kankuro would go for the mid ranged enemies, whilst Temari focussed on the long ranged units.

That was how it usually went. She was breaking the unspoken rule...but this was an exception.

She may have learnt that pride in a battle was dangerous, but this wasn't that kind of pride. She hoped her brothers understood.

"Fine, the enemy will not be a problem for you." Gaara didn't show anything in his voice.

"Who's the lucky bastard for me then, Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"150km at 10 o'clock. You should have no issues"

All three looked at each other and nodded briefly.

 _Game set._

"Excuse me! What about us?" The one called Hana shouted. The sand shinobi were moving faster and faster.

"Ah sorry, sorry!" Kankuro shouted out over his shoulders cheerfully, fingers already itching over invisible strings.

"But we're going ahead!" Temari continued as she turned her head and gave the medical ninja a grin.

"It should be over soon." Gaara's voice, though not raised, was clear. "Arrive in your own time."

And with that the Sunan shinobi split in three different directions, and in a blur of movement, were gone.

"Why do people always do this to us!?" Temari faintly heard Hana cry.

She grinned to herself.

 _Has he improved?_

* * *

 **I love these siblings. So much.**

 **Please don't ask about the distances in the chapter, I don't actually know anything about a ninja's speed. I would measure it if I could...actually no I wouldn't.**

 **Sorry.**

 **In other words I have no idea what I'm doing. Isn't it grand?**


	8. Chapter 8 - His rescue

**I** **don't own Naruto, I don't own a lot of things...**

 **This chapter came out darker** **than I expected. I don't think I handled the tone in it very evenly, so despite original plans I'm going to split the fl** **ute fight in half.**

 **It's much easier to get Shikamaru into OOC behaviour as he was developed more as a character, I think that's why his chapters feel more brief so far.**

 **Another reason is that I really didn't want to just rewrite the existing manga chapters word by word in book form, I don't see the point in that. If I can't add to the scene, then what's the purpose? The last few chapters avoided dialogue from the manga as much as possible for this reason.**

 **However I think I've reached the end of what I can do without reusing manga dialogue because of my limited skills, the next half of Shikamaru's story will probably have manga dialogue in it.**

 **As always please R and R!**

* * *

He was going to die. This thought floated into his head and soaked deep into his consciousness even as his brain frantically flew through every strategy in its arsenal.

Shikamaru's jutsu was weakening and the flute woman's strength seemed to grow exponentially with every second. A cold sweat dripped down his neck and onto his collar.

He had thought of every shougi move that he had played, every strategy book he had read, every half remembered anecdote...nothing. He had nothing.

The sound nin smiled widely as she realised that the end was coming, and Shikamaru could only growl in frustration. He watched his shadow arms shrink further and further...

He didn't mind dying. It would be a pain in the ass, but he had been prepared for it when he took on the mission. Despite all appearances, Shikamaru was willing to lay his life on the line for the leaf. There should be no regrets...except...

Shikamaru refused to finish the thought. Refused to think of the possibility that his comrades could be dead, despite every alarm in his head proclaiming its truth.

They say that when you are near death, time would slow almost to a halt and your life would flash by in a blur. For Shikamaru, he found his thoughts rattling faster and faster within his brain instead, every one jostling to get his attention until his brain ached.

He thought...he thought of everything.

He thought of how the odds were against them from the start with these enemies and that he had frankly tried his best. That he had made the best decisions within the situation.

He thought of how his mother would kill him (ha) since he didn't remember to clean his room before he left for the mission.

He thought of how he never figured out what his old man was on about when they were talking about women.

These musings soon broke down, mixing with fear and fatigue to travel through darker, more shameful thought channels.

Like the reasons why he didn't ask Ino along to the mission despite their rapport and experience working together. There wasn't a single one he was comfortable with.

And how even if he had made the best decisions within the situation, that perhaps if he had trained more; there would have been better decisions available in the first place.

Perhaps if he had cloud gazed a little less and had picked up the kunai a lot more often, there would have been decisions where he was a lot more helpful available.

Perhaps...perhaps even decisions that didn't require any sacrifice. Such as the sacrifice of his best frie-

Shikamaru's mind froze in rebellion, refusing to finish the thought.

For the first time it hit him; his shamefulness. Shamefulness at his weaknesses as a shinobi.

It was never a secret that Shikamaru had always preferred brain over brawn. As he was blessed with an exceptional mind; the shinobi had felt it perfectly fine to miss a few physical practices here or there. Only now did he realise the sheer ego in that decision. It would have been fine if this had ended in his death alone, you reap what you sow, but the fact that he had endangered his entire team shamed him beyond anything else.

The shock at the clarity of his failings shook Shikamaru's concentration just enough for his jutsu to snap, and with a roar the enemy slammed her kunai down...

...before a gust of wind came and blew her off the branch and into the darkness of the forest.

He threw his arms in front of him, and glimpsed sandy blonde hair through the gap.

He couldn't hear what the figure was saying for the wind, but he thought he heard the word 'ally', and recognised the hair and the weapon...

 _The sand girl!_

Suddenly his mind was clear, as if a shot of sunshine had burst through the fog. Ideas, plans and stratagems flowed in like lightning.

It wasn't that the shame no longer had an effect on him. It wasn't that his insecurities were magically puffed away with the relief of rescue.

But he could deal with that later. Because he sure as hell wasn't going to let a comrade die in front of him now.

Shikamaru rose from his kneeling position, with barely a hint of shaking in his movements.

 _It's troublesome...but let's treat stopping this girl from getting herself killed as the last mission._

* * *

 **I wonder if I made Shikamaru a bit too bipolar here...but I chose to write in this way because I thought it would be interesting and true to what we have seen of him at the time. Perhaps it was a tad overdramatised, but I do believe he was his worst critic. Any thoughts?**

 **Note: this was drastically changed from the previous version to be less melodramatic, I hope it reads better.**


	9. Chapter 9 - Her rescue part 2

**I'm not that happy with this chapter, I don't think I added anything much to the manga version. Oh well, I suppose this means Kishimoto's chapter was pretty much perfect for me.**

 **I'm not sure about the English translation I've used, but unless someone complains about it I will live with it.**

 **Please R and R!**

* * *

She made a point of saving his life.

Perhaps she had chosen a jutsu that was a tad bit stronger than needed, but to be fair he was acting like an annoying little brat.

(" _I heard that we'd come to terms with the traitor sands, it's hard to believe you'd turn your tails just like that._ ")

The Kamatari jutsu she had perfected quite recently and she was just a little satisfied by how much more effective it had become. The forest was still making a symphony of noise as trees belatedly collapsed.

(" _Sorry but no can do, I can't stand being protected by a woman._ ")

She had been prepared for scepticism. In Sunagakure you had to prove your worth to gain respect, and so she expected nothing from a person she had recently lost and was an enemy to. The gender part was never an issue in her village though; strength was strength.

(" _If you ask me, we're at an overwhelming disadvantage." the boy attempted to fix his fingers, "If this keeps up, sooner or later we're going to be forced into a corner. We should retreat for now and then..."_ )

Temari finally spotted the body of the enemy unit underneath a pile of freshly cut tree trunks, she smiled in satisfaction.

 _One sound ninja down and one leaf ninja alive._

"How's that?" Temari said brightly, "It's over." She tried not to sound too proud about it, someone had to be the adult around here.

 _But so help me if he complains about the deforestation, or I swear there'll be another casualty today._

She turned to the shinobi behind her and gave him the first genuine grin since her father died.

It was not an everyday occurrence for her to successfully fulfil a mission, assist in efforts of diplomacy and to prove herself to a past opponent after all. And so her smile was raw, unguarded and beautiful like a child's.

For a first time in a while Temari had a feeling that everything was finally pulling together.

"No problem?" She asked, her tone perhaps a little playful.


	10. Chapter 10 - His rescue part 2

**Shikamaru was such a sexist little brat, but I've treated it as him being in a 'ewww, girls!' stage and that he had purposely/naturally misunderstood his parents' teachings on how to treat girls.**

 **Please R and R!**

* * *

He didn't think she would finish his job.

Shikamaru stared at the scene before him. A small acre of spontaneous clearing had opened up in the forest within the last minute. This wasn't what he had envisioned happening at all.

(" _Hey you," she had asked, "when did you turn into such a dim wit?_ ")

He knew that famous kunoichi existed, people of legend like Tsunade the slug. But his personal experience of girls made him believe that this was the exception rather than the norm.

(" _Are you still going on about that man and woman crap?" She had interrupted him. "I know that's all a bluff."_ )

For example he knew that his mother was a Chuunin when she met his father, but that was a long time ago. He had imagined her screaming the enemy into surrender like how she screamed at him into doing homework.

(" _Don't underestimate my power." she had said, before biting her scarred thumb and leaving a trail of crimson on her fan._ )

He could never understand why his father chose to be under his mother's thumb when Shikamaru knew how strong he was. He had admittedly looked down on his father a little for that.

(" _Wind release! Great sickle weasel!_ ")

As for his female classmates, he had only really hung out with Ino during training. Useful as she was with her body swap jutsu, he was always the one who had to pick up her body and keep it out of danger.

( _Shikamaru did all he could to not be blown away from the powerful forces that had emitted from her fan. He couldn't see nor hear for the cutting winds that tore up every tree in its path_...)

And thus Shikamaru had decided that while girls can be useful, they are annoying and generally have to be protected. The scariest thing about them were their ability to get angry and nag with no end in sight.

"How's that?" As the sounds of the destruction died completely, he finally heard the girl speak. "It's over." her voice was cheerful and, he noted, had a slight hint of smugness.

This kunoichi's ability to level a forest without breaking a sweat was probably a tad more frightening than her ability to nag. He looked up at the nonchalant figure in front of him.

 _What a pushy person,_

his brain felt a little dazed.

 _She's scarier than my mother._

The sand kunoichi turned to face him, arm on her fan. "No problem?" She said and gave him a grin, all scrunched up nose and showing teeth. It was an innocent expression that surprisingly suited her well.

Shikamaru found his stomach doing a tiny little flip (from fear, he assumed) and before he could help himself the corners of his mouth were curling up in response. He gave a small nod that spoke volumes.

 _Oh well...I guess I better thank her this time around._

And so in the midst of the devastation two youths stood smiling in acknowledgement at each other, for a moment almost as if without a care in the world.


	11. Chapter 11 - Her frustration

**So the stats page is broken atm and my analytical side is depressed, I really hope it's fixed soon as a chapter that is currently my personal favourite thus far is coming up soon. Bloody first world problems.**

 **Anyway here's the infamous crying scene from Temari's perspective, I think Shikamaru's perspective is more interesting though for obvious reasons. But I've tried and hopefully this will work with her character.**

 **The blank 2.5 year period is within touching distance and I sure hope I won't screw it up. I've been reading a lot of Shikatema fanfic this past week and aside from making me feel inadequate as a writer it also made me a bit confused about how to write Temari. Because she could be playful yet serious and angry yet mature. Dammit Temari why aren't you more 2 dimensional!?**

 **As always please R and R if anything catches your eye in the chapter, it'll be nice to know what kind of tone people connect with more**

Temari gazed curiously at the boy in front of her, he seemed to be working very hard at distracting himself from what was occurring next door.

 _He's never had a teammate die on him before._

She realised now just how much of his attitude was a bluff.

From what she had heard from lady Tsunade all of his team mates located thus far were injured, and it was obvious that he was particularly close to the chubby kid currently in surgery.

Temari watched with mild interest as the boy seemed to have failed in his plan and was trying out a bit of self administered pain, touching his wound.

It wasn't that she was unsympathetic, Temari wasn't made of stone, but she knew words of comfort didn't help. The first major mission tended to make or break a soldier, she had seen it once or twice before.

She vaguely remembered an assassination she went on a few years ago, the sight, smell and taste of warming blood...Temari promptly blinked her thoughts away. She had pretty much forced herself to get past that one. A kazekage's daughter couldn't just quit after all.

Temari noticed that Shikamaru's masochistic streak was going a bit too far. He was pressing on his fractured fingers with the utmost concentration.

 _He should have picked another injury, a shinobi needs his fingers above all else._

She found her chance to speak when he momentarily went back to fidgeting again.

"There's no use in fidgeting." she called out, "Sacrifice is an inevitable part of missions. Didn't you receive emotion training?" She carefully kept her voice neutral, this was a delicate situation.

He looked up at her as she spoke, the first time he had acknowledged her since entering the room, before looking down again.

"Training and actual combat is different." His voice was quiet, "In a mission you don't know what's going to happen." There was no snappy comeback.

 _Oh shit._

Temari found herself getting annoyed...no...she was getting downright _angry_.

For an opponent who had bested her, who had this much potential without even trying to sound so defeated...it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

 _This is pathetic._

Shikamaru continued, "and I...was a team leader for the first time on this mission. Because of that, I understand that..."

She kept her eyes locked on him, daring him to finish the sentence.

"I'm not cut out to be a shinobi."

 _This little punk._

She tried to keep her voice even, But couldn't help letting her irritation show, "Unexpected fragility...men are strange."

To her annoyance this had little effect on him.

"I shouldn't have been the team leader this time, I just trusted everyone else." Shikamaru stood up fully, "I was laid-back...I didn't have enough strength..."

 _So many excuses_

 _"It's all my fault."_

She spat out, "Are you afraid of being hurt?" It was one last challenge.

If he had any sense of shame he would fight her, and if he didn't then he was simply wasn't to be the man he could be. He wouldn't be a shinobi.

For a moment she thought she saw a flash of frustration and anger on his face, but then it was gone and he stood up and made to walk off.

 _Coward_.

She kept her eyes on him, making sure he knew that he was walking away, knew that he was giving up.

Then a man with a clear family resemblance appeared and stopped him.

And proceeded to give the boy the most painful lecture that Temari had ever seen.

There were little in the way of raised voices, but the combination of the situation, their obvious relationship to each other, the brutal honesty and the fact that she was present made it painful.

But for a person like Nara Shikamaru it was completely necessary.

She knew her face was giving a sympathetic expression and was glad that he wasn't facing her.

 _What will he choose?_

Suddenly everything started happening at once. The surgery was a success! The Byakugan boy was fine! The Naruto kid was back! Temari was frankly surprised at how everyone was more or less declared alive and kicking despite everything. The kid was damn lucky for his first leadership role.

Then to her shock Shikamaru was crying. She had seen some shaking, but she didn't expect tears.

Temari always thought that crying could only be a sign of weakness, but for some reason she didn't find Shikamaru weak. Frustrated, yes. Relieved, yes. But the tears seemed as much a promise to do better as a moment of collapse.

The leaf ninja's eyes were shut tight, liquid squeezing through the gaps stubbornly. There was no bawling, just soft chokes and gasps.

The kunoichi remembered having locked herself in a room after a mission failure once, because her heart and soul had felt fit to burst at the time. But she was only able to get her eyes a little damp and had forced out a tear or two before giving up in frustration, punching the wall. She had trained herself too well, violence was easier.

"Next time! Next time I'll show you that I can do it right!" The boy sobbed.

 _Crybaby,_ she thought and smiled to herself, she knew he was made of tougher stuff.

Temari learnt a little more about strengths and weaknesses the day she saw a boy cry.


	12. Chapter 12 - His frustration

**Yes! Everything is working again! Nice!**

 **This is the last time that the two really interacted as kids, they REALLY didn't have a lot of scenes together. But I like how low key it all was, with all the subtle signs thrown in. I think it was more or less just the right amount of detail for side characters in a shonen manga.**

 **It's a shame you never really see Temari kick ass again, but then there are so many characters and close range fights are the main draw for a manga like this. Of course they could have introduced** **smaller fans as a weapon or something...**

 **Well anyways! This chapter it's Shikamaru's viewpoint! I kind of wished I picked a different angle to this event as I feel the original chapter is great. Completely went past all his bravado and smarts to reveal how he was just a 13 year old who has much to learn at the end of the day, smarts or no smarts. As always please R and R!**

Shikamaru sat rock still, his eyes rooted to a patch of floor in front of him. He concentrated on the journey of an ant crawling across the surface with fierce determination.

 _Don't think, just don't think._

The ant finished its journey and disappeared into a crevice. And Shikamaru found his mind shooting back towards what was happening behind the emergency doors with laser pointed accuracy.

 _("Rock Lee has mainly facial injuries with generally minor bleeding, his recovery has been set back by several months. According to him Naruto has chased after Uchiha Sasuke.")_

Shikamaru stared at the small bandage wrapped around his fingers. It seemed to mock him.

 _("Inuzaka Kiba has a significant stab wound, but he should live. Compared to the others he's fine. Not great. But fine.")_

He touched his injury lightly, it stung a little.

 _("Hyuuga Neji is in a critical state. He has been stabbed inches from his vital organs. It's very touch and go at the moment.")_

Shikamaru deliberately placed his thumb over his fractured digits and pressed.

 _("Akimichi Chouji appears to have consumed a substance that is currently attacking all his internal systems. I have never dealt with anything like this before, the next hour is vital.")_

He pressed harder, the mushrooming pain distracted him a little. He alternated between administering pain and fidgeting.

"There's no use fidgeting, sacrifice is an inevitable part of missions." A voice spoke from the seat in front of him. "Didn't you receive emotion training?" Her tone was deliberately light.

He looked up and met the Sunan kunoichi's eyes (" _It's Temari, I had a feeling that you'd forgotten my name.")_ He saw the perfectly composed expression on her face and looked down again.

"Training and actual combat is different." He said quietly.

 _You wouldn't understand_ , he wanted to say, but he had a feeling she did.

"In a mission you don't know what's going to happen."

He could tell she wasn't impressed with his answer. He didn't know why she decided to wait with him, but he really wished she didn't. He continued,

"and I...was a team leader for the first time on this mission. Because of that, I understand that..."

Shikamaru wanted to shut down the conversation before she went somewhere he didn't want to deal with right now. He could feel her eyes boring into him.

"I'm not cut out to be a shinobi."

 _There. I've admitted defeat. Now go away._

"Unexpected fragility...men are strange." There was an edge behind her words.

 _She just doesn't quit does she?_

"I shouldn't have been the team leader this time, I just trusted everyone else." He stood up fully, "I was laid-back...I didn't have enough strength..."

He didn't look her in the eye, "It's all my fault."

"Are you afraid of being hurt?" Her sudden accusation had an undercurrent of scorn and even an idiot could tell she was challenging him.

The words cut through him like a knife.

Shikamaru was good at dismissing other people, especially females complaining about him. As far as he was concerned if he was smarter than them and their issue didn't bother him then why should it bother them? He had happily walked away from troublesome lectures several times.

This question, however, bothered him. Temari had a way of seeing right through him and saying just the right words to unnerve him. He couldn't walk away this time, not unscathed.

Unfortunately old habits die hard and Shikamaru found himself taking a step, then two, away from the antiseptic smelling room. Away from the sand kunoichi's piercing teal eyes (how could he have forgotten her name with eyes like those? He must have been blind.)

He was then shocked to be confronted by his father.

The same father who often hid from his mother was standing there, berating him.

The same father who usually gave him a free pass was not letting him run away this time. His words were quiet, and painful in their bluntness.

"You are just a coward."

Shikamaru had no way of walking away from the man he respected the most, the only man who could beat him in shougi, he might as well be trapped in a shadow jutsu.

And thus Shikaku laid bare all his son's flaws in the open and placed a spotlight on every weakness he had. Shikamaru couldn't deny anything, couldn't give out any excuse that didn't sound pathetic even in his own ears and couldn't walk away. But a part of him was determined at the very least to not cry in front of his father, and equally not in front of Temari.

But then Tsunade burst out of the surgery room. She said something, and her words felt far away, as if underwater.

 _Chouji's alive?_

Shikamaru felt a small wave of relief coursing through him and his eyelids prickled. He dared not turn around.

 _Thank God he's alive! My best friend's alive!_

Then Shizune ran in with news on Neji. Shikamaru found himself shaking, the prickling in his eyes becoming a liquid wetness. He squeezed them shut.

 _Oh God. Oh thank God!_

His knees felt weak, his eyes hurt and the room was too large, yet too small at the same time.

Through this complicated cornupeaia of emotions he heard something about Naruto, before Tsunade's voice rang out as clear as a bell, "Your mission was a failure this time. But everyone is alive, you can learn from this."

And Shikamaru broke. The pent up frustration, fear, relief and happiness poured out of him as he cried tears of pure emotion. Like a child he wept, not caring who saw his tears seeping relentlessly down his face.

"Next time! Next time I'll do it right!" He vowed.

 _Next time nobody will get like this! And the mission will be a success!_

Shikamaru grew up a little the day he cried in front of a girl.


	13. Chapter 13 - Her year

**I really like this chapter. It's my personal favourite yet despite not being all that funny. Properly veering onto none canon territory here with no point of return, so this is probably going to get rocky. Please let me know your thoughts.**

 **P.S Still in love with sand siblings. They are awesome.**

 **P.S.S Chose to go the openly affectionate sister route with Temari and Gaara**

"Gaara your robe isn't placed correctly" Temari quickly began smoothing her little brother's clothes, "How will you face any official function without me?" She lightly teased.

It was the day of Gaara's inauguration ceremony, a result of months of hard political fighting to win him the kazekage role. Ultimately his skills, quietly earnest charisma and the village's familiarity with the family triumphed.

She did however found herself having to berate Kankuro constantly as he never managed to understand the idea that how he treated his younger brother in private wasn't appropriate for the future kazekage in public (" _Oh come on, if my little brother needs a good telling off, then I sure as hell am going to give him one!" He had reasoned)._

They hadn't had an official mission as a trio for a month now, their group having been unofficially disbanded only a short year after the Konohan mission. They had been operating as a team under Baki before then, but that was during the period when Gaara was less sane and none of them talked of that time.

She remembered their last mission together. None of them had known it was to be their last, but Temari had felt unspoken words in the air. The task wasn't anything special, just a typical A grade body-guarding job.

By that time they were all acknowledged as Chuunins officially and Temari and Kankuro had already started leading their own teams. Their missions together had reduced in frequency until it was sporadic at best.

They also knew that the next Kazekage was going to be privately announced in a matter of days, and regardless of whether Gaara was chosen for the role Temari had already accepted the responsibility of becoming the Konohan liaison.

So the end didn't come out of nowhere.

They didn't say or do anything different during the mission, but when it had ended the trio wordlessly took the long route home, camping under the stars as they went.

It was amazing how quickly things were changing for the better in Sunagakure, but during the last campfire of the journey with her siblings Temari did for a brief moment wished that time passed more slowly.

They all instinctively knew that it was the end of an era.

"You should let us know of the daily situation in Konoha, we need to make sure that our village relations remain amiable." Gaara said quietly, breaking Temari out of her thoughts, he knew better than to stop his sister's fussing over his outfit.

Temari grinned and pinched his cheeks lightly, "You should be more straightforward about wanting me to write to you!" (She wouldn't ever do this in public of course.)

Gaara's mouth curled at the corners ever so slightly, for him this was the equivalent of a laugh.

This was likely going to be the longest that they wouldn't see each other; for her first stint as a diplomat it was agreed that Temari would spend 3 months in Konoha.

Temari didn't have any real competition for the role. She was young and able, familiar with Konoha during the invasion and the subsequent reconciliation efforts, had a good title and more than enough smarts and common sense to negotiate tricky situations. The better question was who could possibly be better for the job.

"But where's Kankuro? He's missing your big moment." She asked.

Kankuro had vehemently opposed any talk of him becoming kazekage and had thrown his weight behind Gaara immediately. He was currently aiming for the role of head of special corps as it was "more his style."

Temari knew her loudmouth brother always did enjoy being in the centre of the action. It was just unfortunate that he had somehow become a ladykiller at the same time.

"He's in the shadows somewhere." Gaara replied. "He will come out when he's ready."

They shared a brief look of understanding. Temari had planned to leave that night and Kankuro was always the worst with goodbyes.

"I suppose I will see him when I see him then." Temari sighed.

She fixed the crooked angle of Gaara's kazekage hat and stood back to survey her work.

"Much better." She smiled. "Very handsome."

Gaara nodded his thanks and they turned to the doors leading out of the room.

 _Time to face the music._

She knew opening the doors would mark the beginning of a new chapter. A chapter where being a part of the sand siblings and children of the Kazekage weren't their main identities anymore.

 _The village liason. Head of special corps. Kazekage._

These terms still felt foreign on her lips. And part of her was frightened and excited at the same time.

Frightened of letting her siblings run free without her, but excited at their possibilities in the future.

Temari pushed the door open and stepped in front.

But she knew the three of them would be fine.

In Sunagakure the wind direction would change every hour and the desert landscape every minute.

But the sand was constant and they were sand to the core.


	14. Chapter 14 - His year

**I wanted to write this as an in between stage where Shikamaru is slightly less lazy but still has some ways to go. I'm so glad that I don't have to make up an OC, good old Anko to the rescue! Now that I think about it, she was pretty cool when she was introduced, with a tinge of creepiness. There was quite a bit of potential there with her being Orochimaru's only student, it's a shame I never felt she fulfilled it. Maybe I should write something in the future?**

 **I'm really hoping this is seen as funnyish, so as always reviews are welcome with open arms.**

"Shikamaru, get out of bed! Remember you're escorting the Sunan liaison today!"

The boy yawned, remained in his sprawled out position on the bed for a while, before rolling belatedly into an upright(ish) position. He stretched, showing a hint of growing muscles.

He was nearly 15 now and was still going through a period in his growth spurt where his bones ache in the morning.

After a quick wash in the basin Shikamaru threw on his official jacket. He hadn't worn his childhood outfit for a while, since it was too much effort explaining his status with his youthful (and sulky) looks. By now he had physically matured, but the jacket stayed on out of habit.

Yawning all the way, the young shinobi walked into the kitchen where he acknowledged his mother briefly before starting breakfast.

She tried to hide the surprised look on her face. Yoshino still wasn't quite used to seeing her son leaving more or less on time to anything. Not for the first time she wondered exactly what happened that day her son took on his first leadership role, but neither of the men in the household ever told her. Shikamaru was never late for a mission ever since and arrived even earlier when he was in charge.

However his lazy side wasn't completely dead for he complained through every early morning wake up and was sometimes late to anything he deemed not that important. This was one of those days.

"So what do you know about the liaison? Do you know this person?"

Shikamaru mumbled through the bun in his mouth.

"Take that out of your mouth and speak up!" (Some things never change.)

He rolled his eyes and obediently gulped down the bun in one go.

"No idea, I'm just a last minute replacement. Temporary at that."

He said after coughing and then looked up at the clock.

"I've just been given a time and place really."

"Do you think he would like to come over for dinner tonight? To try some authentic Konohan cooking?"

"Im sure he'll think it's a drag. Anyways gotta go, see you later!"

And with that he gave a lazy salute, shoved his hand in his pocket and bolted before she got any more ideas.

"I command you to get back here this ins-!" He heard before the door closed and mercifully muted her voice.

He sighed and fished a scrunched up ball of paper from his pocket as he walked towards the village gate. He thought back to the events leading to his position today...

" **Hey Shikamaru! What are you up to tomorrow?" called out Anko as she was carried into the village, her legs in a cast.**

 **Unfortunately the shinobi didn't manage to avoid her gaze in time. Anko had a reputation of dumping interesting (i.e. weird) work on others when injured, last time it was the retrieval of a pair of particularly venomous pet snakes.**

 **"Ah Anko san, I have piles of paperwork to do tomorrow-"**

 **"Be a pal and swap with me will ya? I'm meant to be meeting with this big shot ambassador from Sunagakure and with things like this-"**

 **She indicated her legs,**

 **"-I can't do it for a while. It's only for a couple of weeks till this heals, then I'll take over again. What do you say?"**

 **Shikamaru frowned, "That's a huge pain for me actually, besides what would you know about my paperwork?"**

 **Anko grinned, "I was in most of your meetings remember? It's probably stuff on the rain village's missing nin. I'm all over that!"**

 ** _Dammit_** **.**

 **"C'mon, all you have to do is take this person on a quick tour, hang around, go for some missions together for a couple of weeks...and it's all on expenses!"**

 _ **I could just dump him as soon as the first week is over and take the time off...**_

 **Not the type to say no to someone else in the know tackling his excessive paperwork, despite his wariness, Shikamaru sighed.**

 **"Fine, give me the details."**

 **Anko grinned and quickly dug in her pockets. The genin carrying her shifted uncomfortably, he had been standing on the same spot for a while.**

" **Wait just a moment, I've just scribbled the details down today..."**

 **"Today?" Shikamaru didn't like the sound of that. It was just suspicious.**

 **"Yeah, believe or not I was a replacement as well." She murmured absent mindedly, "Found it! Here you go! Thanks! Ok go!" And she was gone, her figure a laughing blur as her ride ran off into the distance. Shikamaru was left standing there with a scrunched up substance in his hand.**

 _ **How troublesome...**_

Back in the present Shikamaru glanced at the smoothed down paper. It had the most terrible handwriting he had ever seen in his life.

 _I can't even read the name._

He squinted.

 _Is that a...Te? To? What?_

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath.

 _Why didn't I pay attention whenever Tsunade talked about this topic?_

He remembered,

 _Oh yeah...I was actively avoiding her._

He recalled not wanting to be saddled with a three month long babysitting duty and so whenever the words, "Oh by the way Shikamaru, about the Sunan liaison-" came out of her lips he would make an excuse, suddenly remember something important or, in one memorable instance, pretended he was choking.

For good measure he made sure he tuned out every conversation on the topic when it came up in a meeting. It was dangerous to have such a good memory and Shikamaru was burnt one too many times whenever someone mentioned casually, "This random vaguely important thing? Oh Nara kun probably can do something about it...".

And yet here he was now. It was almost like destiny.

 _I bet she planned this..._

Shikamaru concentrated on the scribbles again and could barely make out some description,

"Blonde hair...green blue eyes..." He mouthed noiselessly.

 _Huh, sounds like her._

He thought of one of the scariest kunoichi he had ever met in his life.

After that mission a year ago he had glimpsed Temari every now and again in the village. She was always busy, always heading off to a meeting here or there and usually with a brother or two. They would acknowledge each other when they bump into the other, but it was always a bit rushed.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her for a while lately.

 _10 o'clock at the village gate_

Shikamaru snapped back to the task at hand and walked faster. The gate was within sight and it was already 5 past 10.

He saw the doors opening and the lone figure walking through, familiar giant fan in hand. Temari looked up and waved, an expression of recognition on her face.

"Oh." Shikamaru's voice didn't betray any sense of surprise when they met halfway, "So it's you."

"Good to see you too." She smiled, "Done any crying lately?"

And that was how the three months started.


	15. Chapter 15 - Her year part 2

**I just realised I've written more words in this story than all my previous stories combined, yay!**

 **Anyways in this chapter I've imagined Temari to be much less foul mouthed and openly rude than when she was younger. She's an ambassador after all. Please r and r!**

"Oh." He said when they met halfway, "So it's you."

"Good to see you too." She smiled, "Done any crying lately?" Temari couldn't help it, she was glad to see a familiar face.

 _("If you ever need help just call for me, crybaby." She had laughed at their last proper goodbye)_

"You are the same as always." The youth gestured towards the village. "C'mon, I'll show you where you will be staying." He then frowned, "By the way, I don't have to call you Temari san right? Tsunade made a big deal about treating diplomats with respect."

Now that she thought about it, they had never acknowledged each other by names before, only a "you" or even an "Oi you". It would be strange to start with the politeness now. Fighting against and with each other made names seem unimportant somehow.

"Don't, that will be creepy coming from you." Temari tried to hide a shudder as they took a sharp left at the entrance. "How come you're the escort? I've been told that it would be Anko san."

"Ahh, Anko san broke her legs and I'm the only one willing to meet up with the fancy new ambassador from the sand until she gets better." He glanced at her, "I didn't know it was you though."

Temari snorted, "You were probably planning to show me the inn and the immediate surroundings before bailing weren't you?" He shrugged, acknowledging that he was caught.

"You better do your job properly, this stuff is important too." Temari said, her eyes sharply on him. "I'm not going to let things slide."

"Yeah...what a pain." Shikamaru sighed before stopping at an inn door. "Well, after you."

They walked in. And that was how the three months began.

Surprisingly Shikamaru did do his role well. Although he moaned his way through it all, the shadow shinobi was everything an attentive escort should be. He showed her the liveliest bars, the best food places and the quietest areas to train. He ensured that she had all her documentation signed off, introduced her to everyone and was a good partner in missions.

Frankly he had impressed her and Temari could tell that he took an enormous satisfaction from doing so.

Time passed by in a blur and before she knew it her first trip was finished. She was then surprised to find Shikamaru turning up early to walk her to the gates when she was leaving. Temari was planning to let him sleep in as thanks and had purposely said her goodbyes the night before.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. It was the crack of dawn.

He shrugged, "Escorting." Shikamaru then yawned loudly, "You leave way too early."

 _How did he know when I was leaving? I'm sure I didn't mention a time_

Temari had then blinked and began walking, with Shikamaru naturally falling into step next to her.

 _He's taller than me_ , Temari realised with surprise, _when did that happen?_

She swore he was the same height when she first arrived.

Shikamaru spoke up. "So when will you be back? The Genin exchange programme is at too early a stage of planning for them to let you go for too long."

Temari frowned a little, "I requested two weeks off. I need a break, and then I'll be here for a week or so. Afterwards the meetings will be held in Sunan."

Suddenly Shikamaru gave a little chuckle, "Even you need a break? I thought that you live for work."

Temari dug him in the ribs, "Everyone needs a break. You just take it too far." She said primly.

"Ah woman, what are your elbows made of?" Shikamaru grimaced, holding his side.

"My elbows are fine, your torso's too weak, you should train more."

It carried on a little in this vein until they reached the first gatepost out of the village.

"You aren't planning to walk me all the way back are you? Is this more of your special kind of chivalry?" She finally asked.

Shikamaru glanced at her and stopped walking, hands in his pockets. "Nah." He said, "you can look after yourself."

They faced each other and after a moment Temari took her hand out for a handshake. It felt appropriate.

"Well Nara san, it's been a surprising pleasure." She smiled, "And you didn't cry a single tear."

Shikamaru grimaced with an exasperated look on his face, "Oh come on now, you're still going on about that? And don't call me that. It gives me the creeps."

Temari laughed, "Weird isn't it? Told you." She kept her hand out.

He glanced down and sighed, giving her hand the briefest squeeze.

"Just this once. I'm not shaking your hand again, you're coming back soon anyway."

Temari flashed him a toothy grin, "Thank you for your help, your services are over now."

Shikamaru shook his head and placed his hands behind his neck to stretch.

"Next time you're in town the new tsukemen place would have opened up and a whole bunch of stuff would have changed, Tsunade would probably still make me escort you around again."

Temari looked perplexed, "Wait, what about Anko san?"

He looked at her, equally confused, "What about her?"

"Wasn't she meant to be taking me around? She never turned up in the end."

For a moment Shikamaru looked shocked, as if he got tricked. He immediately hid it and said breezily, "Oh it was too troublesome to swap halfway through, I guess it just got stuck."

"Okay then..." Temari looked sceptical, "Well then..." She gave Shikamaru a small nod and he responded in kind. And with that she walked off into the trees.

She didn't see Shikamaru muttering darkly to himself about troublesome snakes as he walked back into the village.

 **I'm running out of ways to make the chapters match, so the next chapter will be different in many ways. Hope you look forward to it!**


	16. Chapter 16 - Ino

**So as promised here's something a bit different: Ino's point of view! I've focussed on showing her as caring, bossy and a little boy crazy. To be honest I never really paid much attention to Ino and so I might have got it all wrong. Also her getting with Sai made sense(ish), but was still pretty random and very sudden. I just wished Kishimoto had drawn her realising Sai's foul mouth before anything happened.**

 **Please R and R!**

Ino had found it a bit difficult to bond with Temari at first.

It was partly due to the sand kunoichi's intimidating aura of military competence, and how she could be scarily blunt at times (" _Why would a ninja diet? Seriously?_ ")

However, complaining about Shikamaru's lazy ways had worked wonders on their relationship and they successfully became friendlier, even more so after completing a mission together (" _Your technique is quite interesting, is it a family heritage?")_

Of course by extension this meant Temari had gotten closer to Sakura as well. They were even quicker to become friends and Ino could tell that Temari greatly admired Sakura's skills. Gaining a Sunan's respect was the quickest way to friendship and for a Sunan ninja this was even more so.

And by getting to know Temari better Ino surprisingly found that they had more in common than she had thought.

For example Ino had assumed that the sand kunoichi was only ever interested in training and working, but Temari actually knew a fair bit about more 'feminine' activities such as applying makeup, having a skin care routine and following fashions (apparently her brother knew even more.) She just never talked about it before because her preferences were very different from Konohan fashions (" _We really only focus on the basics in the desert, like healthy skin and lips.")_

Another surprising similarity was the warmth when she talked about her brothers. After a period of time, during which Ino felt that Temari had really warmed up to her, the Sunan had started mentioning Gaara and Kankuro every now and again. Ino was struck by the way she described, complained and worried about them.

It was very similar to how she herself talked about Shikamaru and Chouji.

She had a feeling that Temari couldn't really mention these things to just anyone and felt privileged to be trusted with these conversations. So Ino kept uncharacteristically quiet about them to others.

This was also around the time when Sakura and Ino had tried teasing her about Shikamaru, especially now that they were 75% sure she wouldn't kill them.

You would be blind to not notice how comfortable they acted around each other. Temari actually seemed _playful_. In a non deadly way. And Shikamaru was actually _smiling,_ and not (always) sarcastically either!

However they soon stopped teasing after Temari bluntly closed the topic down enough times with a scoff.

She scoffed really convincingly as well, with the rolled eyes and little laugh and everything. Ino would have believed her as well if not for one little thing.

Temari's denials were _curiously_ in sync with Shikamaru's, whether they were together at the time or apart. It was most suspicious.

It was also very entertaining and Ino often enjoyed gate crashing the couple's non dates just to see their double act.

(" _Ino san, be serious, me with this guy?...""...are you seriously listening to yourself Ino? Don't you have work to do?")_

It was so much fun, that she was planning on doing it right this moment, having spotted the kunoichi and her 'guide' in the distance.

 _They must be dating_

She thought to herself for the 100th time.

She did think it a little ironic how she had assumed they were a couple based on how much time they spent together, considering how often people had (wrongly) mistaken Ino to be dating either Shikamaru or Chouji.

She reassured herself that this was different from herself and the boys.

For one thing, as much as Ino loved the fantasy of being fought over by two guys, she couldn't help but react with exaggerated disgust every time the topic of herself and the boys were brought up.

The very idea of it freaked her out to be honest, this was _Shikamaru_ and _Chouji_ being talked about after all. The same two kids who were always saying the wrong thing to a maiden doing her best (" _What's the point of a diet? It's stupid."),_ they were the brothers who fell into her life because of family traditions and who she always had to teach on the topic of fitting in ( _They just don't GET things!)_

No, she liked guys with a sense of mystery, a certain charisma about them if you will. A nice face always helped.

Although her previously dorky little brothers did admittedly become manlier ever since the Sasuke retrieval mission. This had only managed to inspire Ino to step it up and pass the next Chuunin exams. She was meant to be the grown up sister of the group, dragging the boys reluctantly into the world of adults dammit!

And thus despite her affection for the boys and despite them becoming more mature, Ino would never ever date them. Ever.

So yes. Totally different situation.

Ino focussed back on the figures on front.

 _Oh come on that's a date! He's smirking, she's smiling, they're totally enjoying themselves, it's a date!_

She walked closer, softening her steps and hearing snippets of conversation.

"-and when the defense minister said there was nothing he could do I thought you were going to tear him a new one, you had that troublesome look on your face."

"Hey, I have to work with the man tomorrow and I don't burn bridges. And what do you mean by my having a look?"

 _Oookkkaayy it's about work, super weird..._

Ino's face stayed perfectly straight to hide her disappointment, although her positivity quickly bounced back.

 _But still! Shikamaru's weird, it could still be a date!_

And with that Ino dove right in.

"Fancy meeting you here Shikamaru! And with Temari san again I see!" She called, striding purposely up to them. Ino didn't even try to hide her grin, which only grew wider as she saw Shikamaru replace his small hint of a smile with a characteristic frown.

"Ino, Your face is going to fall off if you keep that up."

Ino ignored him, "So where are you two off to? Anywhere special?"

"Come on Ino san, you know I have too much sense to date such a lazy punk" Temari smiled wanly, "your face looks strange. Are you ill?"

 _Synchronisation no jutsu_

"I'm feeling absolutely fine! Never better! Fantastic!"

Shikamaru sighed, "Whatever, anyways good timing, we're just going off for lunch at the Yakitori place up the street. Want to join? You've just finished that one week long mission right?"

"Oh I wouldn't want to intrude..." Ino mock protested, a bit touched.

Temari laughed, "You're being ridiculous Ino san, let's go."

For the first time Ino began to doubt her instincts on the two.

 _Maybe...I'm wrong?_

She found herself disappointed, yet somehow relieved at the same time. Her brother wasn't leaving her anytime soon.

"Okay I'm in." She said, "Shikamaru you're paying!" Ino watched Shikamaru mutter under his breath. Something about a drag.

And then Temari and Shikamaru turned around smartly at the same time, took a step simultaneously and began walking ahead of her. Feet perfectly synchronised.

Ino narrowed her eyes.

 _Oh they are totally together_


	17. Chapter 17 - Chouji

**And now it's Chouji's turn! I felt Chouji's character arc pretty much finished as a kid. He's loyal, kind, eats a lot and knows Shikamaru the best. I'm not sure if I like how he ended up with Kurai (?) it was random and I expected him to be with someone nicer. Tbh I expect him to get with the most desirable girl in all the villages that all the guys want or something. But who knows? We don't know much about her after all apart from the fact that she's blunt and strong minded. Please R and R.**

"I'm telling you it's obvious! What do you think?"

Chouji popped a potato chip into his mouth and chewed, and then had another, and another. This was definitely a 20 chips conversation. He knew Ino wouldn't treat him to food for no reason, and he almost regretted agreeing to go. Almost.

"I think," he carefully said after chewing for a while. "that Shikamaru will tell us if something's happening."

He corrected himself internally,

 _Well...he'll tell me at least_

It was almost as if Ino could read his thoughts when she argued, "Maybe he'll tell you but he definitely won't tell me anything unless I force it out of him!"

 _You mean force it out of me_

Chouji may not have had an IQ of 200, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut. This was probably why he had a more stress free life than his best friend.

"And anyway that's not what I asked," she continued impatiently, "Do you think he likes her?"

Chouji wasn't very good at lying to his friends. Whenever he tried he found that his food wouldn't taste good for days.

"Yes." He replied simply.

 _Sorry Shikamaru, but it's barbecue night_

Ino gave a short squeal of delight and quickly grabbed Chouji's arm in an attempt to take him out of the restaurant.

"Come on! Let's go!" She urged.

"What are you talking about? We haven't finished eating!" The chubby boy protested.

"Oh you never finish eating!" She retorted "Shikamaru always brushes me off when I ask him about it, but with you there there's no way he can deny it!"

 _No way am I getting involved_

"Come! On! Chouji!" Ino grunted with effort, her face turning red, "Let's! Go!" The restaurant was treated to the image of a slim girl attempting to drag a boy at least half her size heavier, she looked a little ridiculous.

"I'm not going anywhere. It's not going to work." He said genially, Chouji looked remarkably like a peaceful and unmovable Buddha as Ino began attempting to shove him instead.

"Why not!?" Ino growled, she appeared winded.

His voice was unusually firm, "Sit down and I'll tell you." He munched on another chip furiously.

"Fine!" Ino let go of Chouji's arm and flopped ungracefully back into her seat.

"Well!?" She demanded.

Chouji sighed and shovelled more chips into his mouth. He was going to need it.

"I just don't think they are what you think they are." He started carefully.

Ino snapped, "You admit that he obviously likes her!"

"They get along well together." He shrugged, "Doesn't mean they're dating."

"Oh come on, Shikamaru never spent so many consecutive days with a girl before!"

"Sure he has, you." Chouji cheerfully noted.

"I'm the exception!" snapped the blonde.

"What about all those female ninjas during missions?" He pointed out helpfully.

"That's different! They don't count."

"He also did a few missions with Temari san as well, does that not count either?"

Ino looked like she was about to pop a vessel, Chouji didn't usually talk back so sarcastically to her. But to be fair Chouji didn't usually get involved in his best friend's love life either.

"Oh you know what I mean!" Ino all but shouted and the people in the restaurant looked up in interest.

And Chouji did know what she meant. Shikamaru did act differently when Temari was around. It was subtle, but if there was a way to describe it then it was this: Shikamaru became...more Shikamaru like.

He was more alert, smarter, quicker, ruder, more grumbling, more energetic(ish), more sarcastic...

It was as if all his attributes were heightened to a pin sharp point.

And another thing was...sometimes Chouji felt like he was in the way whenever the two started chatting intensely about work. And that had never happened before.

If anything everyone else were third wheels when the two boys were hanging together (" _So much bromance."_ Ino had muttered, it was not a compliment _.)_ Chouji had never seen Shikamaru so focussed as he was during these conversations, with the exception being during Shougi.

So there could be something there. But...

"I don't think he knows that he likes her." He said quietly.

Ino scoffed, "It's Shikamaru, he knows everything. It's what he does."

"Look." Chouji was horrified to realise that he had finished his chips off. He couldn't deal with Ino like this without food. "Guys don't talk about this kind of stuff. Well we don't anyway."

He looked around desperately and eyed the small packet of peanut snacks on the ground, it must have fallen when the food arrived. He snatched it up.

"All I can say is..." Chouji quickly poured all the peanuts in his mouth and swallowed in one go. "Shikamaru's got his own way of thinking."

He wiped his mouth, " And no one can make him do or think anything if he doesn't want to."

"Are you saying to leave him to it and he will magically realise that he likes her?" Ino groaned, "but that could take _years_!"

Chouji shrugged, "That's how he works. He has his own pace. Like I said, if anything happens, he will tell us."

 _If anything, you would only get in the way_

Ino pouted, "So all we can do is wait?"

"All we can do is wait." He agreed.

For a miraculous moment it looked as if this message got through to her, but then the moment was gone and Ino shook her head and got up.

"Nope, I'm not buying it. I'm heading off to shake him to his senses, with or without you." She said determinedly and slapped down some cash before walking off purposefully.

Chouji sighed, he had done his best.

"More pork belly?" asked the restaurant owner.

"All of the pork belly." He agreed.


	18. Chapter 18 - Her annoyance

**So I guess people are ambivalent about Ino and Chouji, not that it's going to stop me trying it again in the future. Anyways here's Temari again, I'm not sure if it's too early for romantic feelings, but I like to think she was certainly more self aware of a crush than Shikamaru. Thoughts are welcome :)**

Temari tied her forehead protector carefully in the mirror, checked her equipment briefly before hefting her fan on her back. She glanced around her inn room quickly with a practiced eye.

It had been a year since her initial trip, by now the owners had reserved the room permanently for her and it showed. A small little cacti in the windowsill, a kabuki mask on the wall, an embroidered rug, various wooden photo frames adorning the room...little signs. Temari was offered a place in the newly built Sunan embassy a while ago but had rejected it, she liked the inn owners and she liked her room.

 _...Her room?_

She paused with her hands on the door. Thoughtful. Temari wondered when she became so accustomed to this village.

She had found it challenging in Konoha for the first half year or so worth of trips. She was always adaptable, but travelling was very different from actually living in a place.

For one thing the weather changed too much. It was especially difficult in the rainy season when it got far too humid for its own good (" _Yeah it kind of stays like this for a couple of months." He said as they stood outside the teashop waiting for the rain to stop._ ) She could cope much better in the blazing summer and freezing winter months though (" _How are you dealing with this heat?" He muttered, sweating profusely. Temari simply smiled, perfectly cool in her desert clothing._ )

The food was another difficulty. It was really delicious, flavoursome and Temari was especially fond of the dangos they sell near her inn (" _How much can you eat woman..." He said when they stopped in the shop on the way back to the embassy. Again._ ) But every now and again Temari found herself craving lighter and dryer food (" _What's that? Sunan crackers?" He asked, "Can I try?"_.)

By far the hardest thing to get used to were the people. They were just far too _friendly_ far too quickly. In Sunagakure it took at least a few years of close interactions before people stopped referring to Temari as a lady, whilst in Konoha it was done away with in a few months. Here Temari was "Temari san", in a few cases "Temari" and it took a while before she realised that it was just the way people spoke. She learnt the difference between someone speaking familiarly because they genuinely felt close to her and when it was just a speech pattern (" _You're thinking too much about it." He said casually, "So troublesome.")_

But slowly and gradually, the things that had annoyed her faded in intensity and Temari was disconcerted to find that she probably knew more about Konoha than most people in the village. She probably knew more about Konoha than her own village in some aspects.

And it was definitely all his fault.

She didn't know when it had happened, but before she knew it Shikamaru escorting her became the natural pattern of things.

The one trip where he wasn't available Temari simply opted to take herself around, and when she had walked the complicated short cut to the best ramen shop alone she realised that the whole escorting business was probably unnecessary.

And yet it continued.

It always made some sense though. There was always a new place that had opened, a few layout changes about and new information in the village happenings. With knowledge from the best eater and the biggest gossiper in the village, along with his own ridiculous brain, Shikamaru knew everything there was to know about Konoha and it was logical for him to keep Temari updated when she was around. Perfectly logical.

She hated to admit it, but he was almost the perfect partner. His brain was first rate and she found herself even being able to predict his next train of thought sometimes. There was a level of trust and respect between them that had built up naturally over the years and it was reflected on the field and off.

However Temari still laughed whenever Ino mentioned them as a couple, because to the almost 19 year old Jounin he was just an unusually smart 16 year old who was still more child than adult.

It was true that ninjas grew up young and Shikamaru definitely improved his attitude a fair bit, but Temari knew from how lightly the boy took his duties as heir to the Nara clan (" _That's in the future, the old man has some life in him yet_.") and how he picked and chose his duties (" _I can do all this tomorrow.")_ that he was still not yet a man.

 _It's a pity, but he is too...young_

The kunoichi knew she was attracted to him for a while now, it just made sense to ignore it.

Told herself it was just hormones.

Reminded herself that he didn't get that much better looking, that he was just a Chuunin, that he was a leaf, and far too _young_.

Because Shikamaru wasn't just youthful in age. Temari had seen enough loss, had felt the relentless heavy load of duty and had stared into the valley of death enough times to understand just how cruel life could be. She knew Shikamaru didn't truly understand, he might have the knowledge, but he didn't have enough experience.

So despite the habits they had memorised (" _Green tea for me, jasmine for her._ "), despite the banter (" _This is so..." He began, "Troublesome?" She finished, "How original._ "), despite how they had a _routine_ now and despite there being... _something_ between them...Temari could ignore it.

It helped that Shikamaru was still oblivious about it all.

He was too young.

And Temari was certainly too mature for this. She was most certainly not silly enough to indulge in games like he would. She had far too much work.

Her leaving at 1am in the morning was definitely a logical action and not an attempt at escaping a particular shadow shinobi in a game they had most certainly not played for a year.

Temari determinedly twisted the door knob and stepped into the open air.

 _The coast should be clear-_

"Yo." Shikamaru drawled from the wall next to her. He yawned exaggeratedly.

 _Dammit_! She had the annoying feeling of losing again, despite no one keeping a score.

 _How the hell does he always know? It's been a year and every single time!_

Temari kept her face perfectly blank and only nodded in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as per usual, her irritation hidden behind a mask.

"Escorting." He replied as always, and there was a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Temari wasn't perhaps quite the adult she thought she was, she still had moments where she indulged in games.


	19. Chapter 19 - His annoyance

**And here's Shikamaru's side! Another light piece before the turn for the deep. Would love your thoughts.**

Shikamaru leaned against the wall of the inn, waiting. _She should really just give this up_ , he thought to himself.

Ever since a year and a half ago Temari had a rude habit of not telling him when she was leaving for Sunan, and this had started a game of sorts that had continued to this day.

 _How childish_

And Shikamaru always caught her before she managed it (there was one close call where he had to use a transportation scroll just as she reached the gates, but the look on her face was worth every yen.)

It was always easy to predict the time period when she was leaving; from the weather conditions, the type of foodstuff she would order and her habits the night before. He had it all figured out by now.

Today she had most likely finished her personal errands, probably had a dango break and should have returned to the inn a while ago to pack.

 _Too easy_ , he smirked.

It was always worth the effort to get up just to see the microsecond look on her face. To prove to her...

He frowned.

 _To prove what?_

For a moment he puzzled over this. _To prove that I can do a job until the end,_ he thought.

Shikamaru had always felt the irritating need to impress her like with his father, ever since the mistake of letting her see him cry. It wasn't as strong an urge as with his dad and he could suppress it, but it was always in the background.

"Oi Shikamaru, what are you doing?" Called out Kiba as he walked by, Akamaru beside him as always.

"Kiba," Shikamaru acknowledged, "I'm waiting for Temari."

"But she already left you know?"

 _What?_

"What?" He said somewhat stupidly.

"I saw her in the forest earlier. Hey, did you know Naruto's back? She left with him, Sakura and Kakashi."

"Are you sure?" It was a pointless question, but the shadow shinobi asked anyway. He wasn't used to losing.

"Don't doubt my nose!" Kiba snorted, "And her scent had left the inn hours ago."

"Wait," Shikamaru frowned,"Your nose isn't that good, how can you tell?"

"No need to get your pants in a twist," Kiba grinned, showing fangs, "Your girlfriend's smell just stands out that's all. It's got a weird texture to it, kind of like sand and spice."

"She's not my girlfriend." Shikamaru said dismissively, "Stop listening to Ino."

"Whatever," the other boy laughed, "I'm heading off." and he and his dog left.

Shikamaru felt just a little put out. He had planned this into his schedule today and now he would have to start the more boring work back at the office early.

Not that escorting her wasn't annoying official work, regardless of the fact that Tsunade hadn't checked on him in months (" _What?" She looked at him, "You're still escorting her?" The woman then shrugged, "Okay then...as long as you get this other work done on time I don't really mind._ ")

He was glad that Tsunade at least wasn't pairing him with Temari like all the other women he knew. Except now the misunderstanding seemed to have trickled down to the guys like Kiba and even Naruto, who hadn't even been to Konoha in years.

Shikamaru sighed, can't people see it was just work? Hard, tiring and difficult work? When Temari was around he always had to compile giant lists of information on the village, from big necessary things like the latest leaf genin information to smaller tidbits like the newest restaurants in town.

He just knew she would complain his ear away if he didn't prepare for the less vital cultural side of her visit, even if she had never once asked him to do it. Nor complained when he had missed a shop in his list. Or seemed much prepared for the information really.

 _Not complained so far anyway...still wouldn't risk it_ , he thought.

Ino kept trying to insinuate that he got along especially well with the Sunan, which was stupid since they mostly just talked about work that they share. She could understand his thought processes and had interesting opinions, and it made sense to have meals together late at night when they still have stuff to do. People need to eat.

So what if he knew her food orders off by heart? They had worked together enough times and it wasn't like Temari experimented with food often.

So what if he took her cloud watching during breaks occasionally? Even that woman had moments of silence, and everyone needs a break.

And anyway, she was still one of the scariest women he had ever met in his life. All strength and sass and far too little softness. He could tell she was frightening by the way his heart suddenly flipped when she was around, his body was definitely warning him.

The only time she even looked vaguely soft was when she smiled, such as when he had surprised her in a non-suicidal way. Temari would give that wide grin where her fangs would show and her nose would crinkle a little (" _This place sells spicy chestnut soup?" She asked and her face slowly broke into that rare grin, "Nice_.")

Even then she was scary, because his heart sometimes flipped twice at the sight. His subconscious must have recognised a wolf in sheep's clothing. Or a scary kunoichi with a deceptively innocent smile.

 _What an annoyingly rude woman, would it kill her to say goodbye?_

He felt strangely irritable, he must have enjoyed beating her at this leaving game more than he had thought. It wasn't like they were good friends.

The boy ignored the fact that she definitely had a reason to leave outside of her schedule, as Temari always had an annoyingly good reason for everything. It was why he listened to her more often than not.

Shikamaru sighed.

 _Well...might as well go..._

He pushed off from the wall and started trudging on the familiar route back to the hokage offices. Shikamaru attacked the paperwork with surprising energy and managed to get more done than he had planned, but his mood didn't improve much by the end of the day.

Shikamaru wasn't quite the expert at self analysis that he had considered himself to be at 16 years old.


	20. Chapter 20 - Her promise

**I've done a bit of a skip and decided not to show Asuma's death directly, it was well done in the manga and didn't involve Temari at all, so I don't want to shoehorn her way into that storyline too artificially. Shikamaru has a strong network so the only way I can see Temari being involved in his grief in any way was if the others weren't there at the time. Hence this chapter. Please let me know your thoughts ?**

(" _Did you hear about it? A Chuunin from the leaf singlehandedly killed an Akatsuki member!")_

Temari glanced at Shikamaru sitting diagonally across the table from her. He hadn't even noticed her since the meeting began, so focussed on the work in front of him and with a cigarette in his mouth.

 _That's his seventh cigarette,_ she thought.

(" _Apparently the Akatsuki member couldn't be killed normally, so he had to lure him into a trap.")_

It was amazing the difference a few months make, Temari could barely recognise the youth now. He looked tired and worn out, his face less soft, and his eyes...less naive.

(" _He gave the enemy a fate worse than death, a never ending nightmare of pain and suffering..."_ )

This wasn't the same crybaby she had saved anymore. Temari wasn't surely who this haggard person tiredly flipping through pages of documents whilst simultaneously writing notes on the meeting was.

 _He won't last long working at this pace_

She had been in the village for a week now and not once had she had a conversation longer than two sentences with Shikamaru. Even when she was working in the same room he would only concentrate on the work in front of him, it was disconcerting to say the least.

The meeting was finally concluded but before Temari could catch up to Shikamaru, he had slipped out of the room.

 _Damn he's fast_

The Sunan grumbled under her breath, before walking down the hallway to leave the hokage offices. She would get him next time.

As she wandered down the by now familiar main street she heard a voice call out to her.

"Temari san! Good afternoon!"

She looked up and saw Shikamaru's mother coming out of the local butchers with grocery bags in her arms.

"Good afternoon Yoshino san." Temari replied politely. She had met Yoshino once when the older woman had forced Shikamaru to bring her over for a meal, and approved of her no nonsense attitude.

(" _Mum what are you doing? We never eat this sort of stuff normally, it's not like the kazekage himself came over.")_

Yoshino smiled at her, "Shikamaru didn't mention you were in town."

"I arrived last week, I haven't actually had a chance to talk to him yet."

To the kunoichi's surprise Yoshino gave a heavy sigh, putting her hand to her mouth as she did so.

The black haired woman murmured,"So he hasn't talked to you either? That boy..."

Temari wasn't the type to pry in other peoples' family matters, her own family history was messed up enough, but...

"What's wrong?" the Sunan asked.

"Well...this might be a strange request but..." The woman began, but Temari could tell from the look in her eyes that she had already planned on telling her.

"But if possible can you hang out with my son a bit if you have time?" the words came out in a rush, as if Yoshino was afraid that she would change her mind if she spoke any slower, "It's just that lately he hasn't touched his games at all and spends all his time working."

She paused for breath, "I mean it's a good thing that boy is putting effort into his work, but the way he's going about things..."

Yoshino shook her head, "His father was always better at this sort of thing but he's on a mission right now, I've asked Chouji kun and Ino chan to talk to him but they're going through the same thing..." She then held on to Temari's hands, "I know that this might be weird but would you have a chat with him? Maybe go have tea or watch clouds or something? It's just that you guys get along well and you seem a sensible woman and-"

Temari could see that she was gabbling now and tried to interrupt, "Yoshino san I-"

"I know, I know...shinobi should be prepared for death, I was-am a Chuunin you know," the older woman continued, her determined eyes on the kunoichi, "but I'm also a mother." there was a strength in her voice that made Temari pause.

"So as his friend and as a favour to me won't you talk with him?"

Temari opened her mouth, closed it and then opened it again.

"I will try." She found herself saying.

After Yoshino thanked her, forced some fruit on the Sunan and walked away smiling, Temari just stood there awhile in thought.

As she walked back to her room she thought of the leaf village, and wondered if all the inhabitants had a habit of asking favours out of almost strangers.

As she prepared a letter for her brothers she thought of her own mother, and was curious as to whether she was like Yoshino. Whether all mothers had this painfully fierce urge to help their children.

As she went for a meal in the local pub she thought of the life of a shinobi, how cruel it could be, and a part of her wondered at how untouched she was about it all.

She nursed a drink at the bar as thoughts then came about death, about how even the strongest can fall in a moment, and how all shinobi needed their own time to grieve.

Whilst picking up some documents at the embassy, she thought of how she wasn't suited to comforting, to soft words that meant nothing and were worth even less.

Then as she left the embassy building she remembered how she and her brothers dealt with pain, the way they always gave each other space, and waited for just the right moment to ask almost nonchalantly if the other was fine.

Finally Temari marched determinedly homewards she thought that a leaf shinobi of whom she didn't know very well had died, that a friend needed to mourn however he liked in peace and that she had no right to meddle in leaf village business that was not her own.

Then she saw the candlelight in an open window of the hokage's offices, with a swirl of cigarette smoke drifting out lazily. It was the only lit window in the whole building.

Temari stopped walking and stood still.

She thought of the tired looking shinobi she saw that afternoon, so different from the sarcastic youth just a few months ago.

She thought of how every night since she had arrived there was always the lone candle lit in the same room of the hokage's offices.

She remembered the stench of too many cigarettes, a mother's worried face and how the first great loss could ruin a shinobi.

With a sigh Temari began running, she did promise to help him out after all. And she always kept her promises.


	21. Chapter 21 - His promise

The smoke curled in the air, lazily twisting before fading into the darkness. Shikamaru stubbed the cigarette out before slipping out another one and lighting it with a practised flick of the lighter. There were stubs littering his desk, illuminated by one lone candlelight.

The shinobi temporarily lifted his eyes from the paperwork in front of him and closed them. He couldn't quite remember the last time he did that.

 _Asuma left so much work to do..._

Shikamaru found his mind wandering...

( _The boy couldn't do anything except look on in useless shock as his teacher fell down, down, down to the ground. It was as if time had stopped.)_

He had recently requested to take over all of his teacher's duties on top of his own (if anyone could do it, it would be him). Tsunade had looked at him in surprise but finally agreed upon seeing the determined expression on his face. Shikamaru hadn't slept in a few days, he couldn't when there was always something that needed doing.

 _I promised him I wouldn't slack off..._

He promised a lot of things.

(" _I won't live that troublesome life where I don't finish what I started." He had said, it was a promise to Asuma as much as it was to himself.)_

The letters and numbers were starting to merge together in a muddle of ink, and shadows danced under the candlelight in a hypnotising manner. His body was protesting for rest but he wouldn't concede. Refused to yield.

 _How can I protect his child when I can't even deal with paperwork?_

He found himself thinking of an immortal trapped within the earth.

( _Shikamaru flicked the cigarette into the pit and ignited the explosion talismans. He watched impassively as Hidan cursed him whilst hurtling downwards, the akatsuki's body disintegrating before the Konohan's eyes.)_

Shikamaru shook his head slowly. For some reason, tonight his head was full of memories. Suddenly the lights blinked on in the small office and Shikamaru realised with a start that there was someone standing in front of him. The cigarette fell from his mouth as he fumbled with some jutsu movements.

"It's me." came a familiar tone. The shinobi relaxed at the sound of Temari's voice.

"Temari," he said with a wan smile, "It's been a while...is this about not showing you around this time?"

He took out another cigarette and begun lighting it, his movements were sluggish, as if drunk.

"Because I'm really busy at the moment and-" he continued before the Sunan plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it in the bin. Shikamaru blinked and automatically took out another one, she easily flicked that away as well. Then for good measure the kunoichi deftly slipped his cigarette packet out of his hands and out of his reach.

 _What the?_

He glared at her, "What the hell woman? That's mine!"

"You look like shit. These are not helping." She said simply.

"They help me concentrate!"

"You're getting addicted," she said firmly, "I've left it alone, but this is going beyond a homage." The kunoichi crushed the packet in her hands, "You are going too far."

He growled at her, "Those were my teacher's cigarettes." That was a lie, he kept those packed safely away.

"No they're not, you would've finished those ages ago." She replied, "I've seen you smoke through a whole pack in one meeting, and I've only arrived last week."

 _This woman will be the death of me..._

"Fine! Whatever!" he sighed, "I won't smoke tonight, now will you leave me alone? I have work to do."

 _I have another pack hidden somewhere..._

"Nope," she said and wrinkled her nose, "You stink. Go home and shower." Temari appeared to think for a while before adding, "And go to sleep."

 _Is she actually deaf?_

"Did you not hear me?" He said irritably, "I've got work and last time I've checked you aren't my mother."

Temari merely picked up a piece of paper and gave it a glance. "None of this stuff is actually urgent, and your mother is worried about you." the Sunan flipped the sheet dismissively back on the table. "She doesn't know how to deal with you trying to work yourself to death. You leafs are too soft on your kids."

"She's just happy her lazy son is actually working hard for once." He retorted, "I should know my mother, deal with your own parents."

"Would love to," Temari replied, "But they're dead. I'm sure I told you this before."

He was made silent at this and finally looked into her eyes. Temari's expression showed annoyance as per usual when it came to him, but there was a tinge of worry there. For a moment they only looked at each other.

"Shikamaru." Temari's voice sounded surprisingly gentle, "I heard about what happened, about Asuma san and the Akatsuki. Everyone has."

 _Of course she would know._

"Then you also know that I have avenged him last month." He said, staring defiantly into her teal eyes, "I'm not having a breakdown Temari, I've had my emotion training by now."

"Then what is this about?" Temari snapped as she slammed her hand onto the paperwork and Shikamaru jumped slightly, "I've walked past this building every night and this room is always lit up, you've got darker circles under your eyes than my brother and everyone I've talked to says that you're either holed up in here or on a mission!"

"I've just started putting in more effort. You know, like everyone has been asking of me!"

 _Asuma expected things out of me!_

He clenched his hands restlessly, he really needed a smoke.

 _He never said it but I always knew..._

Temari snorted, "I can't believe I'm saying this to you of all people, but this is beyond putting in a little more effort Shikamaru, way beyond."

Shikamaru exploded.

"He entrusted me with this! He asked me to protect the future generation with the will of fire and that's what I'm going to do!"

 _You don't get it!_

"I can't be a child forever, I can't waste this brain of mine on games anymore!"

"So you're going to burn yourself out now instead and end up dying in some mission somewhere because you were too stupid to sleep?" Temari retorted, "Idiot."

"What do you want from me?" the shinobi muttered darkly, he was tired of this, and just generally tired, "When I was lazy you complained all the time and now you're saying I'm too hard working? What do you expect me to do, huh?"

"What I expect, idiot," she snapped, "Is for you to make use of these so called bonds that you leaf shinobi rave about all the time, and depend on your damn comrades!"

Shikamaru's eyes widened, the kunoichi looked downright frightening and his heart was beating like mad. Her words seemed to slap him in the face.

 _How does she always do that?_

"We sand people never need to talk about it, because in our guts we _know_. We know we can depend on each other." Temari stabbed a finger into his chest, "Yet you guys go on about having ties to each other and other mushy stuff _all the time_. So show it. Don't try and do everything yourself!"

She then shoved a small paper bag in Shikamaru's hand. He looked up at her in confusion.

"Pork buns. Still hot. Eat it you fool!" Temari growled.

The kunoichi put down another package, a bit more gently this time, on the desk in front of him.

"Hot matcha tea. Drink it idiot!" She snapped. "And go home immediately after this. Don't worry your mother you fool!"

The bag was wonderfully warm and Shikamaru suddenly felt as if a tightly wounded dial in him was slowly unravelling.

"You said "fool" twice." was all he could think of saying.

"You need telling twice." she huffed, before turning her back on him and stepping towards the door.

"I'm leaving now. But seriously, go home!"

"Temari?" Shikamaru called out, he could feel his eyelids getting heavier.

"What?" she asked irritably, turning towards him.

"Thanks." The shinobi yawned.

He had the briefest glimpse of the complicated expression on Temari's face before sleep overcame him.

 **Gonna start writing on the bottom only instead, exciting times.**

 **I've never been convinced with Shikamaru automatically becoming completely awesome after a bit of crying, so I did think it's possible that he went a bit far with the whole inheriting the future role at first. I think I'm going to rewrite the last chapter, because I feel this one flows much better and I like it so much more.**

 **There are quite a few things I want to change and I'm finding it extremely tricky to write the war bit. It didn't help that I found those chapters so boring. To me it was literally: waves of people go swarm that dude! Now other wave of people! Bah you're all useless let a main character smash them!**

 **Where are the tactics? The one on one fights characteristic of ninjas that wasnt just about who has the largest energy ball or whatever? I want fights with underdogs in it to surprise me like with Shikamaru and Temari!**

 **Anyways please let me know your thoughts.**


	22. Chapter 22 - Her letter

Temari left the kazekage's offices slowly with a crick in her neck, as she massaged it absentmindedly she thought back to the meeting that afternoon, tiredly scanning the document in her hand.

 _The work just piles up when I've just come back yesterday...how troubleso-_

She stopped that thought before it had finished and gave a short laugh. Perhaps Shikamaru had a bigger influence on her than she had thought.

"I rarely see you laugh, something good happened?"

Temari turned and greeted the shinobi who had joined her.

"Kei, you're back from your mission? How did it go?" she smiled.

Kei was a colleague with whom she had worked with a few times, the shinobi was a tall and good looking man a couple of years older than her and a talented shinobi.

"We got him in the end, I'm the one in charge after all." he smiled in satisfaction. Temari nodded, Kei took his work seriously even for a sand shinobi, and this earned her respect.

"I heard there were a few casualties? Someone lost their leg?"

"It was an arm, but his career in this field is effectively over. It's a shame since he had promise, but he just didn't listen to instructions well."

And with that he changed the subject, as if he was just talking about the weather.

"But what about you Temari? Did the Kazekage need you for something? You stayed behind long after everyone left."

 _Because he's my brother_

"We were talking about my tasks in Konoha." She said. It wasn't a lie, just one aspect of the truth.

"As hard working as ever," he smiled in approval, and Temari found her heart beating faster at the sight, "Just as I expected from you."

His eyes are so blue, she thought to herself.

Temari had a little crush on Kei for a little while, nothing serious. Just a small attraction that started off superficially from his looks and strength. If she were to be with someone she had always expected it to be a man like him.

"To celebrate you and I both being back, how about a drink?" Kei asked, "I'll pay."

She opened her mouth to agree when an image of a sulky black haired youth suddenly appeared for a moment in her mind. She shook it out internally.

 _Don't be ridiculous_

"I would like that." she smiled firmly, "I would like that a lot."

They found themselves in the most expensive bar in Sunagakure, the kind Temari rarely went to except with foreign guests and where the menu prices could make a grown man cry.

The place was almost completely empty and was silent but for the occasional clinking of glasses.

"I always like this place, it's nice and quiet. Helps my thoughts." Kei said as he sat down with the drinks, "What do you think?"

Temari replied genially, "It's good to be somewhere quiet every now and again."

( _The tea room they frequented always had a warm hum of conversation, but never loud enough to drown out your words_.)

Temari frowned to herself, she needed to stop thinking.

"So what is it like in the leaf? I heard the weather is nice." Kei took a swig of his drink as he asked. Temari slowly drank her glass and answered, "It was raining a lot in my last trip actually, my fan almost got soaked."

"That would have been dangerous, it must have been inconvenient."

( _She passed her fan over to Shikamaru, "Hold this." she ordered, before wandering out into the cooling rain. "Sand ninjas," the shinobi said as he rolled his eyes, "Excited about the most random things." She flicked some water in his face and managed to hit his eyes, "Leaf ninjas," She grinned, "So slow.")_

Temari smiled almost to herself and said, "Actually it was good training, I managed to practice using other weapons as well."

Kei looked at her in admiration, "Just what I expect of the kazekage's sister."

"When will you stop calling me that?" Temari argued, "We have fought together and are comrades, Temari is fine."

"You are the Kazekage's sister," He argued back, "You deserve respect, especially with your skills and achievements." Temari felt a warm sense of satisfaction at his words, compliments were rare from Kei. "You should take pride in your position, people can't change who they are." he continued.

(" _Do they always do that?" Shikamaru had asked after a group of visiting sand ninja had greeted Temari and left, "Always mentioning the kazekage's name when they talk to you?" The Sunan had shrugged carelessly and said, "People I don't know well, the old fashioned or the serious ones really." She didn't notice it much anymore. The Konohan gave the departing ninjas a long look before sticking his hands in his pockets, "What a drag." he drawled. She didn't say anything.)_

Temari's voice sounded thoughtful as she agreed, "No, I suppose they can't."

"Exactly. It's why we stand out in this world."

Kei looked seriously into Temari's eyes.

"Sand shinobi never change, we endure without breaking."

Temari hesitated.

( _"A shinobi must be strong enough to endure," he said, "but be flexible enough to not break completely when necessary." Shikamaru lazily stretched out on the roof, "So I'm being flexible by missing a pointless meeting that will no doubt destroy my brain." She had snorted and dragged his sorry ass straight into the hokage's offices right there and then.)_

"You are right, endurance is necessary." She said and tried to hide the small chuckle behind her throat before changing the topic, "But how are things with you? I heard you had taken over Kankuro's position after he had quit the special corps recently?"

Kankuro, free spirit that he was, had unceremoniously given up his position as head of the special corps after a grand total of one year in power. He had argued that it had cut down his time on the field too much and Temari had secretly agreed that it didn't really suit him, even as she told him off for jumping into things without thinking it through properly.

"I'm liking the challenge, although Kankuro san had made so many changes that had kept things going so smoothly, that I'm simply continuing where he had left off." Kei said and gave a short laugh. Temari thought it was a very attractive laugh as she felt a flush of pride for Kankuro. Her brother had always been very intelligent, and it was gratifying to see others acknowledge the shinobi's brain now that he had calmed down a little of the hot headedness in his youth.

"He was always good at inventing things, especially from tinkering with his puppets," she agreed (she would never compliment him to his face) "I always knew he could go far ever since he invented his first technique."

They fell comfortably into an in depth conversation about jutsus and strategies then, before moving on to matters of their village. To Temari's relief she didn't think further of Shikamaru, Kei was a good conversational partner and had intelligent ideas (if a bit old fashioned) and she found herself liking him more and more by the end of the night.

She had been asked out before a few times but it was rare for her to agree, especially when she was so busy and the person asking just didn't interest her enough. This was the first time she had a date with someone who shared such a similar way of thinking to her and had her respect, and so when Kei had finished three drinks and she had just finished her one she let him walk her back to her place.

"We should do this again." Kei smiled at her door.

"We should." she agreed and was surprised by a kiss on the cheek. The sensation was dry and warm, and she didn't dislike it. She found her heart beating faster again.

 _I like his smile_

After he had left, she went into her house and leaned onto the door, finally relaxing her muscles. Temari had rarely felt so tense in her life, putting her best side forward for so long was exhilarating but tiring. A part of her was growing hopeful though, she had never found a guy who had fitted so well into her 'type' before; a strong, prideful and intelligent man from the village who understood her sense of duty. His good looks were a bonus as well.

As she walked into the kitchen with a bounce in her step she suddenly heard the sound of squawking and saw a carrier bird pacing impatiently at the window. She let the bird in and unattached the scroll strapped to its leg and the bird begun strutting in her kitchen as if it owned the place. Temari glanced at the seal and recognised it.

 _From Konoha? Is it urgent?_

She dismissed the thought. If it was serious then it would have been sent to the main offices and she would have been called for. Temari fetched the bird some food and water before breaking the seal and opening the letter, recognising the scrawl immediately.

 _Shikamaru?_

She had seen his writing enough times to recognise the characteristically lazy style. Shikamaru always wrote his sentences as perfectly small as possible, in order to cut down the time taken to write it. The letter simply listed all the tasks that she had left to him since she had returned to Sunagakure and the status of them. It was peppered with complaints all throughout it, and Temari could imagine the shinobi grumbling in vague annoyance as he wrote. She finished reading the updates and grinned widely to herself. Despite the tone of the letter she could see that the tasks were completed to perfection. More importantly, Shikamaru seemed to sound more like himself which was a relief.

Temari released the bird to go to where they normally kept them in Sunagakure before entering her room and sitting at her writing desk.

She smoothed a parchment of paper down before diligently writing her reply in her clear, neat handwriting. She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her tone, although she didn't admittedly try very hard.

All thoughts of blue eyes and dry but warm kisses were forgotten that night.

 **I didn't think it realistic that Temari was never interested in anyone else and had no experience dating. Sure she was busy, but everyone is. I really didn't want to make an OC up but Kishimoto didn't exactly invent a lot of Sunan shinobi in the first place. Also I wanted to emphasise the idea that it was not fate but choice that they were together in the end, these two weren't love struck teenagers who were obsessed with each other at the cost of everything else. They were adults who made a conscious choice to be with each other after going through life a bit and thinking everything through.**


	23. Chapter 23 - His letter

"This stupid leg." Shikamaru muttered to himself as the medical ninja finished with the bandages. He was annoyed at how he somehow managed to get such an inconvenient injury. Shikamaru didn't like being lazy when it wasn't his choice.

He couldn't really afford to slack off now either. It was a few days after Pein's invasion and things were still a little chaotic, Shikamaru felt like a bit of an idiot sitting around waiting for his leg to heal before he could do any physical work.

 _Me with a none serious injury feeling useless in a hospital, typical._

He looked at the door briefly when the medical ninja left.

 _Well at least she isn't here this time._

Shikamaru grunted as he hauled a stack of paperwork onto the bed, he might as well make himself useful whilst he was here.

 _What a pain._

For a while there was only the faint sound of construction outside and the scratching of penstrokes on parchment. The shinobi occasionally yawned and scratched his neck, it was a peaceful day.

"Umm, excuse me."

"Shi-!" Shikamaru jumped as a voice called out and almost threw his pen towards the sound when he realised it was just the girl from the decoding team.

"Shiho," he said in surprise, "How long were you there?"

The girl laughed nervously as she uncoiled from her slight cower, "Just now, sorry for surprising you..."

She lifted a basket in her hands, "It's not like I'm coming to disturb you on purpose, I know you're a very busy man," she began to gabble, "but I just really want to thank you for saving my life and grandma has grown some really nice fruit, not that I've tried but granny doesn't lie, in fact she absolutely hates liars and..."

Her voice trailed off and suddenly her face became very red. She proffered the basket of fruit to Shikamaru with her head down in embarrassment, "I've brought some fruit for you." she murmured quietly.

Shikamaru stared at the basket for a moment, it was ridiculously huge.

"Thanks," he said finally.

 _I don't really remember saving her._

He took the heavy present from Shiho gingerly and placed it on the bedside table. 

"You really didn't need to do that," he said, feeling a little guilty, "We're friends aren't we?"

She sort of counted as a friend he supposed, considering that they had spent a bit of time together decoding Jiraiya's message. Quirky as she was with her tendency to flush and stutter, he respected her first class brain and skills. 

Somehow Shiho's face got even redder and it was almost as if steam was coming off her. 

"Yes! Of course we are!" She chirped, "Friends! Who are friendly to each other! Because of friendship!" 

_What a strange person._

Shikamaru decided that he liked Shiho. She was quiet for a girl, almost to the point of nonentity sometimes. In addition she was probably the least violent female he had ever met; he couldn't even imagine her killing a mouse.

 _(They were peacefully eating a meal together when there was a sudden flicker of her wrist and a squeal was heard. He turned and saw that a mouse was stabbed cleanly to the tree just outside the window. He glared at her. "We're in a restaurant." He said accusingly. She shrugged and replied, "I hate mice.")_

He blinked and the corner of his lips twitched upwards ever so slightly.

 _That scary woman._

"So how are you feeling? When are you allowed to leave the hospital?" asked Shiho shyly.

"What?" Shikamaru looked up; he had almost forgotten she was there, "Oh. Yeah, I should be out in a few days or so. It's nothing serious."

"I'm glad," she beamed at him and started fiddling with her glasses which were beginning to steam up, "If you like I could..." At this point Shiho's voice had gotten too quiet for anyone to hear.

"What was that?" Shikamaru moved closer to her in order to hear and Shiho physically jumped at the proximity. She promptly dropped her glasses clean off her nose and the shinobi caught it by reflex before it hit the ground.

He looked up at her as he offered it back.

 _Pretty eyes_ , he thought absentmindedly. They were a light chestnut brown.

Shiho seemed to be much too shocked to take her glasses back and so after a period of time Shikamaru finally just pressed them into her hands in an encouraging manner.

The shinobi knew he probably wasn't the politest person around, but he didn't think he was intimidating enough for someone to be frightened of him, and Shiho certainly seemed on edge in his company. He didn't really notice it at first, the girl was so quiet sometimes, but it became more obvious as time went by.

Shikamaru often felt stressed out just looking at her panicking and had tried to make her feel at ease. It wasn't easy though, he was never very good at being _nice._

He tried making small talk and uttered, "You look different without your glasses."

The shinobi knew he made a mistake when Shiho shoved her glasses back on her face so quickly it appeared crooked.

"In a good way!" he quickly amended.

A big goofy grin spread over her face. "Really?" Shiho asked, and said almost to herself, "Maybe I should wear contacts…"

"Yeah go for it." Shikamaru encouraged her kindly, if a bit awkawardly. It wasn't a lie, she did have pretty eyes. They were soft and almost watery, with a genial look that appeared very agreeable. They were certainly not eyes that were capable of accusing people.

(" _Stop that." He ordered irritably, "It's not going to work." Temari continued giving him a look with her far too striking teal eyes. "Stop what?" she asked, with a deceptively pleasant tone in her voice._ _"You know exactly what I mean!" Shikamaru snapped. The kunoichi merely continued looking at him, her stare beautifully clear like inescapable stars, until he finally gave up._ _"Fine! Whatever!" The youth grabbed the files he had hidden under his desk, "I'll finish this now, happy!_?")

Shikamaru shook his head mentally and repeated his question, "What were you saying, Shiho?"

"Oh!" Shiho had taken off her glasses and appeared marginally less frazzled, "I was wondering…"

She squeezed her eyes shut and quickly finished her sentence, "Would it be okay if I visit you every day until you leave the hospital?"

He couldn't prevent the automatic question escaping his mouth.

"Why?"

It was a legitimate question, she didn't cause his injury directly, they weren't particularly close and it sounded like a lot of troublesome effort on her part. Still Shikamaru knew he had made yet another mistake when he saw her physically wilt.

"I'm sorry-" She began before Shikamaru interrupted her.

"No, ah…" he wasn't good at apologies, "It was my bad, I shouldn't have said that.

Shiho had the look of a kicked puppy, "I'm really really sorry! I was getting ahead of myself!"

 _She apologizes too much,_ he thought. The words were like a catchphrase.

 _("I'm sorry." She said softly without looking at him when they had managed to stumble back to the village with Shikamaru leaning on her shoulders. He had injured his thigh from a moment of miscommunication during his strategy against the enemy._ _The boy stared at her in shock, Temari never apologized, and felt strangely uncomfortable. "Don't be stupid," he said almost gruffly, "We both messed up.")_

Shikamaru tiredly shut down Shiho's apologies, "No it's my fault, I shouldn't have said it like that." He massaged his temples slightly, "I just think it's not necessary. It's not your fault I'm injured and it would be troublesome for you to come over all the time. So I don't really don't know why you would wan-"

"Because I like you!"

Shiho's eyes bulged in shock at what she had revealed and Shikamaru's face had a remarkably similar reaction.

 _What?_

He just looked at her for a moment.

 _I wasn't prepared for this_.

Shikamaru rallied internally and finally opened his mouth.

"Oh." He said.

Shikamaru tried again.

"Thanks."

Shiho seemed to work through a whole spectrum of emotions on her face before her expression settled on an uncharacteristically determined look.

"So do you mind?" She breathed hopefully, "If I come by again tomorrow?"

"I-" Shikamaru began when a flash of green eyes appeared in his mind.

(" _Do you mind?" She imitated him mockingly, "Do I look like I give a crap about that?")_

"I guess not." Shikamaru finished and was almost blinded by the beaming smile on Shiho's face.

"Thank you!" she said, "Well I'll leave you to recover then, try the apples, they're grandma's favourites!" and with that she left the room so quickly it was almost as if she was avoiding him changing his mind.

There was only the sound of background construction in the room again and the lone occupant blinked slowly.

Shikamaru had never really thought about dating (if that was what he had agreed to), there was always far too much work to do, and it sounded far too troublesome. He wouldn't mind just skipping the whole dating stage and just going for an arranged marriage, except Shikamaru knew that his mother would release an avalanche of girls on him and that was just a bad idea.

Shikamaru took an apple and bit it thoughtfully. It tasted good.

He remembered vaguely a while ago, when he was even more of a snot nosed brat than he was now, that he had dreamed of marrying a wife who was not too beautiful nor too ugly. Who would cut him some slack and he would live a life that was as ordinary as being a ninja allowed, where every day passed in a vaquely interesting manner. He supposed Shiho fitted that image.

He took another bite.

It felt very long ago, those dreams before Asuma died.

He guessed he still wanted the same kind of family, but to be honest Shikamaru hadn't thought about it very much.

The truth was that the image of his ideal future self where he indulged in his laziness completely had changed beyond all recognition, but the dream of the perfect family had stuck perpetually in the past within a child's mind, never developing further.

Shikamaru rubbed his head tiredly.

 _This might become troublesome…_

He immediately felt a little guilty at the thought. Shiho certainly wasn't loud and pushy as other girls he supposed. She seemed pretty enough as well.

 _Hmm…_

And she was smart. Really smart, they could actually hold a conversation and talk about stuff. She probably fitted broadly to the dream wife template he had thought of as a 12 year old kid. Not like-

( _Shikamaru grumbled to himself as he saw all the curious eyes. Temari was sat neatly across from him, enjoying her food in a seemingly oblivious manner. The kunoichi generally attracted some attention wherever she was and it was difficult to hold a conversation or do any work with people staring at your colleague all the time._ _"Stop that." Temari said without looking at him, "You're distracting me."_ _"I'M distracting you?" he asked in disbelief._ _"Yes." She replied, "They're only looking, whilst I can hear you loud and clear.")_

Shikamaru frowned to himself as he threw the apple core into the wastebin. He certainly knew who didn't fit the template at the very least.

The shinobi tried not to think of a sand kunoichi who stood out far too much, who always stopped him even just contemplating slacking off. He leaned back on the bed.

 _Except when she doesn't._

Shikamaru remembered the few moments when Temari had actually joined him in watching the clouds instead of dragging him off to do who knows what vital task. The moments were rare, but they certainly happened.

During these sessions she was awful at relaxing, her whole body was tensed like a cat's and Temari always seemed full of thoughts she never told him. The kunoichi always slowly forced the tension out of her posture with soldier like concentration and contemplated the problems in her mind until the creases on her forehead disappeared.

Shikamaru never asked her about her problems, but he always stayed until she finished thinking. He figured she didn't let herself take a break often and from then on found himself going to his favourite roof to relax more frequently when she was around, even if he had just come back from there.

 _She always looked…softer during those moments._

Tap tap tap.

Shikamaru turned his head at the faint noise and saw a carrier bird outside his window, gently hitting the glass. Grunting, he stretched over to let it in.

"What's this..." He muttered to himself as he took the message from the bird, broke the seal and unravelled it.

 _From Sunagakure?_

It was definitely not urgent though and as he scanned the parchment he recognised the neat and methodical handwriting of Temari's.

 _She writes so seriously._

He mouthed the contents of the letter to himself and chuckled slightly at the sarcastic tone. Shikamaru could imagine Temari just sitting at her desk thinking of the perfect putdowns hidden in plain sight within the passages.

 _That woman...she can't ever give me a break even when she isn't here._

As he made mental notes on the tasks being updated Shikamaru vaguely wondered what Temari would say if she found out that he was injured in his reply.

 _She would mock me. For sure. Better not tell her._

He then paused and remembered a night by the candlelight and with the stench of cigarettes in the air. When he had gone too far and a pair of eyes sharply rebuked him before softening beautifully in sympathy.

The shinobi recalled the first good night of sleep after Asuma died. Not the militantly forced rest during his preparation for revenge, but a sleep resulting in a refreshed feeling in the morning.

Shikamaru scratched his neck in irritation.

 _Better tell her, must be a complete report after all._

The shinobi dug through the bedside table to pull out plain parchment and a pen. He grumbled a little as he did this, muttering about having troublesome things to report. But there was an energy about Shikamaru that wasn't there a moment before.

All thoughts of fruit and shy confessions were forgotten with the sound of pen scratching parchment.

 **Well this took longer than I thought. It's also much longer than I was prepared for. I realised that the whole broken leg thing was probably just the anime...but I wrote it already so that's that.**

 **Shiho's eye colour is made up, I have no clue about it and that's all. I don't know why Kishimoto created her and she had just enough lines that it didn't feel like she was shoehorned in to show Shikamaru is a cool guy now with admirers. But she didn't do anything except decoding that one thing and liking him.**

 **I'm kind of hoping that Kishimoto was actually thinking of showing just a little bit of Shikatema and was planning on putting something gasp vaguely romantic in his Shonen series involving Shiho waking Shikamaru up to the idea of romance existing. Then he had too much to do and had no time for it. That's my made up thought though.**

 **Anyways will probs take a break soonish as RL stuff. I'm very grateful for the few reviews I've gotten, it's always nice to hear people's thoughts. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	24. Chapter 24 - Kankuro

"I don't like him."

Kankuro said this bluntly as Temari walked back inside the room after seeing Kei off.

Temari raised her eyebrow and retorted, "You don't like a lot of people." But he could see from her eyes his words affected her.

It had been a short few months since his sister began seeing Kei and an even shorter period since Kankuro had found out about them, but already the shinobi knew he didn't like his sister with the blonde.

Kankuro didn't think himself the type to meddle in Temari's relationships, she could look after herself, in a way she looked after all of them. In fact one of his earliest memories was of Temari shoving him out of the way of a flying kunai, with annoyance and a hint of fear in her eyes. They trusted each other's decisions. Temari may act the annoying busybody all the time, but she would never stop him when he made his mind up.

So he was surprised to find himself making comments on his sister's love life.

 _There's just something about the guy..._

"You better come in; you should have told me you were visiting tonight." Temari walked into the kitchen and Kankuro followed her in, plopping down on a seat comfortably.

It was a very clean and comfortable room, devoid of frills but warm. Kankuro noticed many Konohan products in the room. His sister's collection seemed to increase with every trip.

"So how are things? I didn't expect to see you for a while." The kunoichi asked as she deftly prepared hot tea for two. "No alcohol." She said firmly as the shinobi gave her an eye roll, "It's a work night." He noted the Konohan packaging.

"Same old, same old." Kankuro replied easily and accepted the tea, he felt the warmth of the cup soaking into his hands and smiled. Say whatever you like about the leaf, but their tea leaves were world class (their alcohol was terrible though).

"Leading missions, trying not to get people killed..." He took a sip and gave an appreciative grin, "...breaking the newbies in just enough to become sand ninja, but not enough to go mad. Tricky balance."

Kankuro put his cup down.

"So about your boyfriend-"

Temari sighed and took a seat for herself, "Kankuro, it's early days and I do NOT need your comments."

"I'm giving it anyway." He said stubbornly, "I don't like him."

"Is this about him showing you up in that mission you had together?"

Kankuro snorted, "As if! I take my missions seriously, you will give me hell if I don't."

After years of being reminded to keep a cool head and to stop playing games with the enemy (which was rich coming from her) Kankuro had toned down the cruelty in order to complete missions more efficiently. As a side effect he had managed to gain quite a reputation and even amass a fan club.

Temari traced the rim of her cup thoughtfully, "I guess you do." She conceded, "But we are talking dating here, why should I listen to you of all people?"

She had a point. Kankuro became famous for his flirting as well as his fanclub.

"Because I'm good at it." Kankuro grinned wolfishly, "The whole dating game, when to start it and most importantly when to end it." He ignored Temari snorting at him.

"But seriously, I won't say anything about the guy unless I need to. It's the same with you, right?"

It was the closest any of them had come to acknowledging that they cared for each other in words, and he saw Temari's expression of surprise. She knew he was serious.

Because it was true that she wouldn't bother him about his relationships with women unless she felt she needed to. Temari greeted his public flirtations with the occasional eye roll because she knew that it was all harmless. He wouldn't sleep around and cause issues.

Their valuable genes had the potential to birth truly dangerous shinobi, so they knew better than to risk the secret arts of their village being leaked via casual relationships. This was yet another hidden expectation which the sand siblings were used to, and they wore this one like another layer of clothing. It was the kind of world they lived in.

"Fine." Temari sighed, "What's wrong with him?"

She began counting her fingers, "Kei is loyal, intelligent, a skillful shinobi with a world class reputation and-" his sister grinned at him, "He's easy on the eyes and doesn't feel the need to cake on the make up."

Temari placed her chin on her hand, "So you better have a damn good reason to disapprove, considering I've never complained about any of your girlfriends, including the one who shaved your eyebrows off."

"You thought it was funny..." Kankuro muttered darkly, "And it's war paint, not make up. Stop changing the subject!"

Temari shrugged easily, he was much easier to trick in the past. Kankuro was learning.

"I don't like how you act around him."

Temari looked at him in surprise, "What?" She uttered, "I don't really act that differently?"

"You act even worse." Kankuro replied, "Like you have the biggest stick up your arse."

"I do NOT." Her real eyes flashed with irritation, "I act as I always do in public."

"Exactly! It's disgusting!"

"You're not making any sense, what is your point?"

Temari was about to get up from the table to wash the cups when the Kankuro burst out, "My point is you already stress yourself out enough without this guy making it worse!"

She paused, sat back down again and asked, "What?"

Now Kankuro was glaring at her, face pulled in a scowl.

Yes they were ninjas and amongst the best in the village, but that wasn't all they were.

Because the Temari he knew was the most caring and selfless woman in the world. Not caring in the sense of being _nice,_ but in the way she always gave those she care for what they needed, as opposed to what they wanted. There was a kindness to Temari that not many people saw underneath her strength and pride.

As far as he was concerned Temari deserved someone who at the very least could be trusted with her kindness. Someone strong enough to stand by her side and ease her burden.

Kankuro had a feeling that Kei wasn't that person.

"You were standing like a soldier the whole time, did you notice that?"

"I was standing like I always do."

"No, it was worst. You were _standing to attention."_ Kankuro insisted, "You were so damn professional and polite with him, it made me sick."

"I AM professional!" Temari protested.

"In your private time as well? Give me a break! You don't need a guy like that."

"I don't need a guy, period." his sister retorted, "But I want him. There's the key difference."

Temari continued, "He pushes me to better myself, when I'm with him I know what I'm lacking."

"He's pushing you too damn far! You're already the most bloody serious person I know! Why do you have to choose the only man in the village worse than you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, him and I together can only bring good things to the village. You're probably the only one who would disapprove."

Suddenly Kankuro got up, his eyes were angry.

"I knew it." He muttered darkly, "You're doing this for the village."

Temari raised her eyebrow, "Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't be with a guy just for Sunagakure."

"Maybe not." Kankuro replied, "But you're the ridiculous type who would care about that kind of stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

He waved his arm around in a vague direction and said scornfully, "Shit like what the village needs, as if it's any of their business who we get with."

"Kankuro…" Temari said softly, her eyes looked kind in a way she rarely showed, "I wouldn't be with anyone if I didn't want to. A while ago I couldn't even imagine being in a relationship."

 _Because we didn't expect to live long enough to be with anyone._

The purple faced youth didn't say that thought out loud. Ignored the memories of walking next to death wrapped in their brother's skin, the days where every night they lived through felt a miracle.

She continued speaking, "He's a good shinobi, if I am going to be with someone I like, it makes sense to also look for a man who could help out the village."

"Bullshit." Kankuro said slowly, dragging out the syllables, "Bullllshitttt."

He chugged the tea down in one gulp, it was lukewarm by now.

"You already do enough for Sunagakure. Hell we all do, I get it! It's my village too. But set some damn boundaries!"

"Why are you so damn sure that I don't like him?" She argued, looking annoyed.

"Because all the things you like about him are stupid!"

"I think you're being stupid right now!"

"Well name something that isn't him being such a wonderful little ninja then!"

"I like his smile!"

Kankuro paused and a slow Cheshire grin spread on his face.

 _I know how I can win this._

"Oh?" he asked casually, "So you like his smile?"

"And his eyes!"

 _Even better._

"They are verrrry blue." Kankuro agreed happily.

His sister was suddenly on guard, she knew he was up to something.

"Very blue…" he said almost as if talking to himself, "Just like dad's huh?"

Temari stared at him in shock and horror, "Don't you DARE Kankuro! A lot of people have blue eyes! I like his smile more anyway!"

"Yes…that smile…" Kankuro smiled innocently, "He certainly has a very interesting one, slightly lopsided toward one end."

 _Time for the trump card._

"Just like that Nara kid huh?"

For a moment there was silence in the room, so deep you could hear a pin drop.

"KAN-KU-RO" thundered Temari angrily, her fan suddenly in her hands, "YOU ARSEHOLE!"

But by then Kankuro had already jumped out of the window and running, laughing at a job well done.

He knew his sister wouldn't be able to talk to Kei again without imagining their dad or Shikamaru in her mind, now it was a matter of time before they break up. Kankuro grinned to himself for trusting his hunch, he _knew_ there was something between Temari and the leaf shinobi! Whether anything would come out of it he wasn't sure, but he definitely preferred the grumpy looking youth than stuck in the mud Kei anytime.

For a moment there was a flash of worry, Kankuro may prefer Shikamaru to Kei, but that was like preferring the lesser of two evils.

 _The kid may be smart but he looked awfully wimpy._

Kankuro shook his head as he continued running, kicking desert sand in the air, that was an issue for another day. Today was a time for celebration at preventing his sister from making a huge mistake; he was a way too nice brother sometimes.

 **pI really enjoyed writing the dialogue for this. I might have got the eye colours wrong though, will change in future if bothered.**

 **Please let me know your thoughts on Kankuro. I hope he doesn't sound too OOC. I'm hoping for all his hidden fans to pop out of the woodwork!**


	25. Chapter 25 - Yoshino

"She's...nice."

Yoshino tried to inject enthusiasm into her voice, but the words came out carefully neutral. Almost polite.

Shikamaru only grunted in reply.

She had forced her son to help her clean up after the meal and he was grumpily complying, wiping dry the plates in a careless manner.

Yoshino watched her son carefully from the corner of her eyes.

"You've missed a spot, it's dripping, do it again." She ordered.

Shikamaru gave an exaggerated sigh but began scrubbing the plate obediently.

"So how did you meet again?" She probed.

"Mum, you promised that if I took her home for a meal you wouldn't ask too many questions." He retorted.

"I said that I wouldn't turn up at your workplace to find her, and that I wouldn't ask you anything during the meal. This is after the meal, answer the question!"

Yoshino felt the now familiar vein popping slightly in her forehead, her son knew just the right words to annoy her. He seemed to have reverted back to his more immature state of three years ago when it came to his girlfriend.

What was her name again? Oh yes, Shiho.

"So how did you meet?" She asked, a warning tone in her voice.

"Work. Decoding team. A few months back."

"What made you like her?"

"Mum!"

"Answer the question Shikamaru, she's potentially my daughter in law!"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"You're the heir of this clan, you better not be stringing a girl along with no intention of marriage!"

The truth was...Yoshino was a little upset at the choice of girl Shikamaru had chosen. She couldn't help but feel that her son had purposely chosen someone who was as opposite to her as possible.

Shiho was...nice. Yoshino couldn't remember very much about her except for a vague sense of niceness merged with a shy demeanour. For the life of her she couldn't remember very much of their conversation, and Yoshino took pride in her memory of little facts, especially embarrassing ones.

"What do you like about her exactly?"

She didn't want to admit it, but she was actually a little disappointed with dinner that night. Yoshino had been looking forward to it for days and was practicing the best recipes that she knew.

"You are so troublesome..."

"Answer the question."

Shikamaru sucked his teeth in and sighed,

"I guess she's quiet and drama free?"

That was a disappointing answer. Her son needed a firecracker under his arse sometimes to get him to achieve anything worthwhile.

She was really looking forward to meeting this girl who had managed to catch Shikamaru's interest. Yoshino had imagined her to be a woman with great strength of personality who could keep her son on track. In fact she was secretly hoping it was that sand kunoichi Shikamaru had worked with often, now _there_ was a woman with a good head on her shoulders.

"Is that all?" Yoshino couldn't hide the disappointment in her tone and felt Shikamaru bristle uncharacteristically at her words.

"She's smart you know," he said almost defensively, "Shiho's better than me when it comes to decoding."

"So do you talk about decoding a lot?"

She had worked with decoders once. To be really good at the job generally required sacrifices in other areas and the very best tended to be a little socially awkward.

"Every now and again, it's a good mental exercise."

It wasn't like her son to feel the need to defend his decisions, it was as if Shikamaru was trying to convince himself of something.

"So when did you ask her out exactly?"

He muttered something under his breath too quiet for her to hear.

"Speak up!" She ordered.

"She asked me." Shikamaru admitted.

Yoshino paused.

 _What_?

She didn't expect that out of the shy girl, maybe Shiho had more fire to her than she gave her credit for? But this opened up a new set of questions, Yoshino knew her son very well after all.

"Did you just agree to go out with someone because it was too much effort to reject her?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her, but his posture was still defensive. Any pretense of washing up was over.

"Come on, even a lazy person like me would know not to do that, that's just troublesome down the line."

"That's true..." She narrowed her eyes, "But I'm not surprised if you went with the flow even if not all the factors fitted."

Her son was silent for a while, before opening with a question.

"So you don't like her?"

"No!" Yoshino found herself automatically denying, "She's nice!"

"You're a terrible liar mum."

Yoshino sighed heavily and took off her apron, she went to the table and sat down.

"Sit." She ordered the teen.

Shikamaru stared at her in horror, "Do we really need to-"

Yoshino glared at him until he complied.

"I know your father is better at this sort of thing, when it comes to this clan and your inheritance." She began, "So I can only give you my perspective, but I think you need to know it."

"This is troubleso-"

"Quiet down and let your mother speak!"

Shikamaru frowned but stayed silent, there was a curiosity in his eyes now.

"I never liked your father at first."

Yoshino held up her hand warningly to stop her son interrupting.

"He was an unbelievably smug man when he was younger; brilliant, but did he know it. I only really started liking him when he reined that in."

Yoshino smiled to herself, reliving the memories of her early twenties.

"Even then it took him a really long time to make me agree to go out with him."

"Wait, he asked you?" Shikamaru burst out, "You didn't seduce him?!"

Yoshino promptly slapped her son's head, "Of course he asked me!" She snapped, "Nara men are notorious for being slow at matters of the heart, it generally takes years for them to realise women exist!"

She let that sink into his brain before continuing,

"He pursued me for ages, it actually got really bothersome sometimes."

She hadn't used that term for a while, it brought back days when she would watch the clouds with Shikaku.

"You're boasting mum, were you playing hard to get?"

"Maybe a little, your father did like his games." Yoshino surprisingly half agreed, "But the main reason was that being the lover of the heir to the Nara clan is downright troublesome."

Her son widened his eyes in surprise.

"What?" She asked defensively, "I was a little lazy when I was younger, how did you think you came out like you are?"

"Dad-"

"You were worse than he ever was, remember you're my son as well."

Yoshino had felt partly responsible for Shikamaru's naturally lazy attitude and so had tried her best to force it out of him, whilst her husband took the stance that their son would grow out of it like he did.

"Anyway, my point is that I had reservations about dating your father and for the most part I was right."

"What did dad do?"

"It wasn't your father, it was the clan. As soon as we were an item everyone suddenly took notice of us more."

People whom she never knew from the Nara clan were suddenly paying attention to her; during missions, social gatherings and in the streets...

"That was fine, I was prepared for that and I knew his family well, but when we got married..."

Yoshino remembered all the etiquette lessons, the ceremonies, the responsibility of managing the estates and the subtle pressure for her to have children. No, it was not easy.

"You don't need to know the details, just know that it was hard to adjust. Marriage wasn't just about us, it involved his own clan. Not every woman has the qualities to be a clan leader's wife."

His voice was quiet as he asked, "Then why did you do it? Why agree to be with the old man if it was nothing but trouble?"

She answered promptly as if it was the most natural response in the world, "Because he is worth it. I have never met a man whom I wanted to support by his side more."

It was a lie to say she didn't wish that he was from the branch family at the time, but Yoshino had figured that Shikaku wouldn't be the man he was if he didn't have the responsibilities of the clan.

She had walked into the role of his wife with her eyes wide open, but it was still a shock to her system. If she hadn't steeled herself for the responsibilities and the family politics Yoshino had a feeling she would have ran away.

It required a woman with real nerve to be able to support her son. Someone strong, enduring, smart and who truly appreciated the importance of duty. Love and real affection was a bonus that she and Shikaku were fortunate enough to experience.

From what she had seen Shiho didn't seem to exactly bring out the man in her son, Yoshino had never seen Shikamaru act so petulantly since his genin years.

There was a silence as she watched Shikamaru mull over her words.

"I get what you are saying, it's annoying but I really do." He finally said, "But don't you think it's too early to think about all this kind of stuff? I've been with Shiho for less than a month!"

"I'm not saying that you should interrogate every girl you meet," Yoshino replied,"I'm just telling you that you shouldn't go into a relationship half heartedly, especially when you don't even know if you like her."

"How are you sure that I don't like her? Public displays of affection are a drag."

"Because you're my son and even if you've got a better work ethic now," She smiled a little, "You're a Nara, and Nara men are slow with romance."

 _But when they find the right woman, they catch up pretty quickly._

Yoshino was surprised at how suave Shikaku became when he began chasing her, he was charm personified compared to his old smug self. Perhaps a part of it was due to her falling for him though.

"It was true for your father, his father and his grandfather. So tell me, do you really like her?"

His silence was all she needed to hear.

 _I don't think she's the one._

Shikamaru was far too careful around Shiho, changing the way he spoke in her presence as if she was a doll that would break at the first crack (which was ridiculous behaviour, the girl was a Chuunin for goodness sake). The shinobi also seem more lethargic than usual and this was reflected in his grumpier attitude lately.

"Okay the talk is over, back to the dishes."

Her son looked surprised, as if he was expecting more nagging from her. But he got up with little protest and they shortly continued washing the dishes in a thoughtful silence.

Yoshino wondered if she got her point across. She didn't know if Shiho was the best partner for Shikamaru, but at the very least she would make sure her son wouldn't waste anyone's time when it comes to matters of the heart.

 **I think** **I made Shikamaru a bit too bratty here, but I wanted to** **convey that he is pretty much a child when it came to romance and that Shiho doesn't exactly bring out the man in him. I don't think I conveyed it that well though...**

 **The** **next chapter is the war one. I don't want to dwell on it too long though so am going to cover the whole war in at most two chapters. Yeah that's the plan.**


	26. Chapter 26 - His War

There was to be a war.

Things changed when that truth was finally undeniable, when the reality of the coming storm could not be ignored. There was an atmosphere of steely resolve in the village so thick that Shikamaru could almost taste it.

Kunoichis who had become housewives returned to their village duties if they were still capable, the more skilled shinobi who had settled down into office work sighed and put away their pens and those with a talent for deciphering secrets and predicting enemy movements shifted into slightly more secretive roles. Everyone braced themselves for the days ahead.

Shikamaru himself broke things off cleanly with Shiho before the first war counsel with his father. Thoughts of the impending battles ahead quickly eclipsed his personal problems and the decision was easy.

The break up itself was straightforward, Shiho had understood that he needed every brain cell concentrated on winning the war, but it was admittedly more difficult when the shy girl had hopefully asked about a future together after the battles.

It was interesting how quickly Shikamaru realised that he couldn't care for Shiho in the way she wanted when the months ahead were no longer predictable. Saying it to her was another matter, but he managed it when he thought of how troublesome it would be for everyone if he had spared her feelings now.

If Shikamaru had been three years younger he would have rejected her without a thought and if his mother had never spoke to him the young man would have likely agreed to dragging the relationship on.

But he _was_ older, he had learnt to not treat girls like pests and his mother _had_ spoken to him.

And so his rejection was firm but not unkind; Shikamaru was learning.

The war counsel was the most serious meeting he had ever had in his career.

Shikamaru knew that Shikaku was unsure about taking him along, fearing his son too young, but everyone knew war did not discriminate. Shikamaru spent the time memorising everything he could, filling his mind to the brim, because it was his damn village and he sure as hell was going to protect it, as troublesome as that was.

He was surprised when he was chosen as second in command to Gaara's division as the shinobi knew the significance of the position. Knew that he was effectively the leader. Shikamaru would have thought either Temari or her brother would have taken on that role as they were closest to the kazekage, but one glance at Temari and he had a sneaking suspicion that she had something to do with it.

Although he hid it behind his professional demeanour Shikamaru was actually worried about his new found responsibility, would anyone listen to him? A Chuunin of barely three years? Admittedly he had little time to reflect on this, there was too much to do and Temari always distracted him from brooding.

He had worked closer with Temari than ever before, their ability to predict each other's thought processes and to bounce ideas off each other increasing exponentially. They had always worked well with each other with her ambassadorial role before, but that relationship intensified with the upcoming war and it was almost as if they were an extension of each others' limbs at times.

They would think nothing of contacting each other at all times of the day when new ideas struck, in fact Shikaku, Chouji and now Temari were the only ones able to get Shikamaru to instantaneously adjust from being asleep to fully awake with their voice alone.

In a way Temari was the real leader of their division, especially in the way she negotiated the different groups and commanded respect wherever she went. If the kunoichi hadn't supported him so publicly Shikamaru thought things would have been a lot less smoother.

He had never felt more humbled or confused than in the face of her belief in him. It was never flaunted, but every word she spoke and every look in her eyes conveyed quiet expectations. It was as if the very idea of Shikamaru failing was ludicrous to her and he found himself believing that as well through the strength of her eyes alone.

Even on the day of the first battle her words calmed his last minute fears. When his knees had felt weak at the sheer scale of the stakes at hand she had burst in like relentless sunlight, her encouragement hidden within the warning for him to stay alert.

It was very typical of her.

He had mumbled about how troublesome it all was at the time, but the truth was that he had felt saved by her words.

It wasn't just his relationship with Temari that had deepened. His father, Chouji, Ino, Naruto, Sakura, Shino, Kiba, Hinata...war knitted their bonds together in a way that was not possible in peaceful times.

The battles raged day and night. The living were dying and the dying were living, it was as if the very order of the world was turned upside down in the chaos.

Shikamaru did things he didn't think himself capable of; he fought with his team against his beloved teacher and won, he accepted his father's last words without tears and he had managed somehow to convince an army of proud ninjas towards his strategies and way of thinking.

But death and war came hand in hand and there was a moment where he was inches from the deep sleep, caught in the enemy's jutsu.

He forced himself to survive with the power of belief he had in the future alone.

In the past he would have probably given up with less fuss, but now the taste of the future felt too close. A future where he would support a stupid but good man who could inspire the world and his friends and loved ones were thriving and well.

And so he clung onto life with every fibre of his being until Sakura brought him back from the brink. He had been close to death several times before, but never had he ever felt so grateful in his life, never had he truly felt the significance of being _alive._

And then came the dream.

It was a strange dream that had felt far too real. His father was alive. Asuma was alive. The village was fixed, including buildings such as his favourite tea shop that he swore had closed years ago. For some reason Temari was living in the village as well. But it was a different Temari, one who smiled that radiant toothy grin at him daily and agreed with him more often than not. She hung out with him,Chouji and Ino often, and the atmosphere was as if they had known each other all their lives. Shikamaru was his usual self in this strange peaceful world, sarcastic and jaded. But there was a deep swelling of happiness within him that grew with every day that had passed, which assured him that this world was real with the passing of time.

When Shikamaru woke up there a long moment where there was only confusion and disorientation. But by far the worst part was the feeling of deep loss and yearning in his heart which almost brought tears to his eyes.

* * *

 **Finally did the war chapter. I was considering making the dream sequence a separate chapter but I wasn't sure that I could drag that one panel dream sequence into a full coherent chapter. So I just made it short and sweet, I have a weakness for short and concise chapters after all.**

 **I was also thinking of a proper break up chapter, but I thought that it made more sense that the relationship really wasn't worth enough and ended quickly with the war a' coming. Plus I'm lazy and cannot get a feel for Shiho's conversation voice. I've tweaked the last chapter as well because I wasn't very happy with my depiction of Yoshino. I need to change the last chapter with Yoshino in it as well...it was hard to make her sound natural.**

 **I think this chapter went about as well as it could have, please let me know your thoughts.**


	27. Chapter 27 - Her War

A war was coming.

Temari accepted this quietly, as she had done for many other inconvenient facts in her life. This war would merely be another enemy to beat, albeit the most dangerous one encountered yet.

Her village reacted in a similarly stoic manner, the people of Sunagakure were survivors used to enduring the unendurable, of fighting enemies bigger than themselves. However it would be a lie to say that there wasn't a sense of...disappointment in the air.

It was a strange and foreign feeling. The sand had traditionally benefitted from less peaceful times, it generated a rare source of steady revenue that made up for the resources lost. A Sunan shinobi was always willing and proud to fight any battle knowing that their doing so would provide for their village and family.

They fought as if they had nothing to lose and everything to gain, because this was mostly true.

In the past.

Now though...things have changed since the treaty with the leafs. Sunagakure had an ally now, somewhat steady trade routes and the beginnings of a cultural exchange programme. It wasn't a sure thing and it couldn't provide as well as say a few battles between nations, but it was the closest that they had ever come to peacetime stability in recent years.

So there was a more somber atmosphere in the village than expected, it was as if the people were almost fearful of losing the little that they had gained over the past few years. This was the thing with hope, it brought fear at the potential loss of it.

Temari herself wasn't unaffected, she too felt a touch of fear deep down in the stomache, that all that she and everyone had worked so hard for would disappear like smoke with the war. But Temari used that fear, moulded it into a weapon that she could use.

The kunoichi joined every war meeting officially as a guard of the kazekage, but everyone knew that she and Kankuro were no mere protectors and treated them with respect. Eventually.

She took an active role in discussing the sand's side when it came to talks about positions and strategies, and surprisingly found an useful foil in Shikamaru. The shinobi, despite not being Sunan, brought out the best ideas from her and contributed several of his own, most of which astounded her in its detail and thoughtfulness. She had always found him smart and comfortable to work with, but Temari was not expecting the ease at which they gelled into their partnership, nor the sheer depth of Shikamaru's talent as a shinobi.

The potential was always there, but only now could she truly see in him the makings of a great man.

Shikamaru's intelligence, bravery, pragmatism and ability to influence others through words astounded her. Temari had rarely seen more than two of these qualities in people twice the boy's age, she knew then that the war effort would benefit greatly, needed in fact, people like him in leadership roles.

Thus when Gaara had asked her opinion on the position of second in command of his division she had dropped in the shadow shinobi's name without hesitation.

He had been surprised, Gaara remembered Shikamaru and had heard only good things about the leaf shinobi since. But Shikamaru was never the flashy type, so even if anyone who knew him had only praise for his talents he wouldn't be the first person they remember when discussing great shinobi.

She convinced him the same way she would later argue to some elders of the village who had wanted a sand ninja as second in command to the Kazekage.

Persuaded the key people that when it came to war talent is the most crucial factor, that truly powerful shinobi with legendary techniques belonged to the front lines, that this was a smart man who had managed to trap an Akatsuki member with minimal injuries and that she would personally trust him with her life.

It wasn't down to just her of course, there were others in her village who had worked with and respected Shikamaru, so there was a case for the leaf to be one of the candidates for selection.

She hid her face carefully at the momentary shock on the young man's face when his name came up during the next meeting between the villages.

The hokage knew of course, Tsunade had planned to suggest his name as well and had told Shikamaru this in advance. However she had neglected to mention that the sand village was also interested, later Temari would learn that the woman had merely told the shinobi that he had supporters in interesting places.

Temari wasn't surprised that he was ultimately selected, she had always believed that with a little push Shikamaru would do great things.

Of course she was effectively acting as second in command along with Shikamaru, her being there legitimised Shikamaru to the sands and she wanted to make sure that he would not let his thoughts cloud his abilities. She knew of his occasional tendency of self doubt even if she did not understand it, he had the perfect qualities for the role, what could there be doubts about?

To Temari the concept of Shikamaru failing at anything he had the mind and resources for was unthinkable.

And so she pushed him forward unapologetically. Sometimes gently (for her anyway), sometimes impatiently, but she pushed. Of course he pushed her right back and it wasn't uncommon for them to be debating ideas deep into the night when the meetings had long concluded.

There were rumours about them, because there will always be rumours when a man and woman are close, even during a war. But she and Shikamaru put a stop to that quickly and it was undeniable to observers that they do ultimately work better when together.

Temari at this time was amongst the top 5 wind users of the world. It was therefore a natural choice for her to be in charge of the long range team within the division, most of whom were people that she had worked with at least once. She led the team with military precision, coordinating attacks and seals, reminding everyone of the drills that they had perfected. As a result her team had their fair share of victories.

Until the annihilation.

It was painful. Temari had never met an enemy so totally out of her league that her team's efforts were like flies being swatted by a beast. She herself was strong enough to fully realise her own weakness and thus she survived, but the majority of her group simply did not appreciate the enemy's full strength. As a result most of her faction was either killed or put out of action.

She knew it wasn't entirely her fault, the enemy was too strong and too little was known of them. But she was _responsible_ for their lives and it was her _duty_ to lead them. Yet one second they were running towards the enemy, when suddenly there was only the injured or dying.

After a brief discussion with Naruto and the other surviving shinobi not part of her team, she had matter of factly picked up the survivors, had them retrieve the injured and reconvened with Shikamaru.

She didn't let her voice show any emotion when updating him on the situation, and he didn't say anything about the deaths. She would have punched him if he had regardless of what was said, it was far too early for words to make sense of the lives lost. It was far too early to truly acknowledge the dead when the war was not yet won.

Instead Shikamaru simply gave her a look which conveyed more than words ever could, of his understanding of the frustration, regret and guilt that she was feeling. And Temari was grateful for it, as she was grateful that his hand came close to, but not quite, touching her arm in an frozen moment of something close to comfort.

The moment passed and she hardened her heart for the next battle. She would endure, because she had always endured.

Hell if she was the type of person to give up.

Then came the dream.

It was a stupid dream, an impossible dream. For one thing everyone smiled too much. For another people that she swore had died, had indeed seen die, were alive and well.

 _Do I look dead to you, ya damn brat?_

Chiho scolded her and promptly broke into coughing fits.

 _I told you that was nothing, that I could do it!_

said one of her first pupils, grinning at her cheekily.

She opened her mouth to say a rebuttal, but all she found herself doing was apologising over and over again. The old lady and the child stared at her in confusion before laughing, Chiho ruffled her hair and ambled off whilst her student simply ran away.

 _Why are you sorry? What happened?_

Her father asked her, a concerned look in his eyes.

 _Did Kankuro do something again? Seriously that boy..._

Her mother, more beautiful than she had ever remembered, sighed in a good natured way with affection in her eyes.

 _No, no...I don't know..._

To her shock Temari found herself crying, she knew it meant something important, but the reason seemed to fade with every second and she was starting to feel very silly sobbing in front of her parents.

 _Hey, stop that. People will think I did something to you._

She turned and saw Shikamaru walking towards her and waving languidly.

 _What are you doing here?_

She asked in surprise.

He looked at her suspiciously,

 _ **You**_ _invited me. Remember?_

Temari remembered now, of course she invited him, they had planned this trip for weeks now.

 _What did you do, ya brat?_

Suddenly Kankuro came into view, with Gaara next to him looking confused at her tears.

 _Nothing, nothing happened._

Temari wiped her eyes hurriedly and stood in front of Shikamaru. She had no idea why she felt so strange, perhaps it was because of the significance of today.

 _Mother, father._

She turned and smiled happily at her parents,

 _I would like to introduce you to someone._

She tugged onto Shikamaru's arm until he was standing next to her.

 _This is Nara Shikamaru that I've told you about. He is my-_

Temari woke up. She bit her tongue down to prevent herself from screaming.

 **I probably** **focussed too much on Shikamaru for this chapter. Oh well.**

 **Thank goodness we have finished the war. I am absolutely terrified that we are now heading into the making crap up part of the show, although I'm super surprised that it had taken me so long to reach this stage so far. I thought the canonish bits would fly by much quicker.**

 **Well anyways I prefer this to the last chapter, probably because of the dream sequence. Let me know your thoughts!**


	28. Chapter 28 - His tiredness

They were side by side in the centre of the storm of activity. After an hour of non stop orders given out, there came a lull where they just couldn't find the energy to do anything at all.

He had done all that he could and Shikamaru reckoned that he could give himself a break. He didn't expect Temari to sink gratefully next to him though, apparently it took a war to finally tire the woman out.

There was silence as they took in the scene of stretchers being carried, of trapped shinobi being rescued and of the confusing sounds of shouting and movement.

"So Naruto and Sasuke finished it." Temari noted after a while, her eyes half closed and looking at nothing in particular.

Shikamaru didn't turn his head and merely gave a nod. Tiredness weighed down on his bones and he could see that the kunoichi wasn't in a much better state.

She continued talking quietly,

"I remembered laughing when you told me Sasuke wanted to be hokage."

He nodded again, but this time murmured,

"It wasn't funny."

Pause.

"That's why I laughed."

There was a comfortable and sleepy silence again. Nothing of real importance was said, but Shikamaru felt that this quiet moment was strangely necessary amidst the chaos of the day. He was glad that Temari was there, like an anchor within the sea of confusion.

Shikamaru broke the quietness this time.

"So I heard you saw your dad?"

Temari tiredly nodded.

"How was that?"

She yawned and replied, "Same as when he was alive, I don't think he noticed me."

"But it was good to see him anyway?"

Shikamaru remembered how she once told him that Kankuro was the last to see the kazekage alive. Temari hadn't talked to her father for months before the imposter came.

She nodded, "It was good to see him act like himself..."

He understood that, because seeing powerful people die by being tricked felt wrong.

Temari tried to stifle another yawn, "How was seeing your sensei? Did you finish things cleanly?"

Shikamaru nodded. He and the others were finally acknowledged as adults by their teacher, so Shikamaru would be lying if he said he wasn't glad that they could fight Asuma one last time.

Silence.

He yawned.

She scratched her neck.

Shikamaru thought it strange how calm he felt. The shinobi assumed that he would be broken into pieces by now, especially with the weight of his father's death and his own near miss being finally unfettered by responsibility. It was mainly due to the joy of victory, the relief of most of his loved ones' safety and sheer tiredness.

He also suspected that part of the reason was the reassuringly solid presence of the woman sitting next to him.

It was a horrible war; bloody, painful and difficult. But it would have been worse without her support. He suspected it was the same for her.

"Temari..."

Shikamaru felt his eyelids drooping slowly.

"What?"

She had her eyes already closed and her fatigue made her voice sound softer than usual, almost gentle.

"Thanks for not dying on me."

As he surrendered to sleep he heard her mutter something.

It sounded awfully like "Right back at you, crybaby."

The pair slept peacefully for a while, oblivious to their surroundings. It was a warm day, they had won the war and there was nothing more to be said.

That is until Ino came upon them and, fearing that they had died, shook them awake in her panic.

 **This is just a short bit to link to the next chapter because it makes no sense for them to be at a funeral that isn't held in their own village, and yet I wanted to write some interaction between the two straight after the war. Nothing happened, but sometimes you need that in life. How very zen.**


	29. Chapter 29 - Her tiredness

She kept busy when she returned to Sunagakure, taking up as many jobs as possible and helping with the funeral preparations. Anything to combat the curiously numb feeling inside her. It was like this for a while now.

It felt almost as if she was observing herself from afar during the public funerals. She spoke quietly, said all the right words about the grief of losing loved ones and offering condolences, but she felt strangely empty about it all.

Everyone was very kind. She had visited every family related to the shinobi who had died under her command and had expected some abuse, but no one blamed her. Some may have felt bitter, especially those who had lost more than one family member, but the anger that they felt was never directed at her.

That made everything worse in a way.

A part of her wished that they had been angry, attacked her even. That would have made it a fight and she was _good_ at those. Instead everyone kept talking to her as if it wasn't her fault, like there was nothing that she could have done. She knew mentally that it wasn't, but that thought felt like an excuse. And all the while she felt her body becoming colder and her emotions freezing as the emptiness spread slowly like a disease.

Temari held it together for as long as she needed to during the day, running through the motions of normality and completing tasks with her typical level of competence. She was extra careful around her siblings to make sure that they wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary, it was easy enough with their packed schedules.

But whenever she returned home safely behind closed doors she wouldn't be able to sleep for the nightmares.

It was always the same dream. Blinding light, deafening noise, chaos and then death. Replaying the heightened memories of the war like an old broken film.

Temari was ashamed of these sleepless episodes where she would wake up in a cold sweat and the occasional silent scream. She was meant to be _stronger_ than this.

She had lost team members before under her leadership; skilled and gifted individuals who had placed their fates in her command and had died regardless. Temari had several bad nights dreaming of them in the past, but with enough training and experience those dreams always reduced in frequency and potency with time. They became background noise; there but not all encompassing.

These new dreams weren't going away.

Too many people that she had known in some form or another had died. They had died stupidly, ridiculously like animals running towards the slaughter. People whose skills she had either nurtured, admired or had struggled against in the past disappeared like smoke and sand. Temari tried her best to distract herself from these thoughts as much as possible, but there was no escaping in the silence of the night with only her mind to accompany her.

The worst part was knowing that she would never be able to make up for those deaths. This wasn't a small team mission that could be learnt from for next time, there wouldn't be another war for at least her lifetime and she sure as hell wasn't going to complain about that. She wasn't a healer either and all the skills Temari had unrelated to killing or teaching others to kill suddenly felt inappropriate. How could she go about essentially representing peace as an ambassador when she had caused so many deaths? The irony alone was far too shameful and so Temari requested to take a leave of absence from all ambassadorial duties.

Nobody commented on it, they had assumed that she was simply prioritising tasks. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Months passed and the nightmares became less frequent, but this was more a result of a lack of sleep than anything else. Temari hid her dark circles under make up and napped lightly whenever she could. It couldn't quite make up for a proper rest, but the few snatched moments of light consciousness helped with the tiredness.

Before she knew it the official mourning period was over and she was packing for her first trip to Konoha after the war.

Ostensibly it was to celebrate Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji's new positions as clan heads officially, but symbolically it was a celebration of the newfound peace between the villages.

All the kages were attending this celebration of the war heroes and Gaara himself was a special guest of Shikamaru's due to their relationship during the war.

It felt far too early to celebrate anything, but Temari dutifully prepared everything for the three day journey. It would be good to see her Konohan friends and she knew how meaningful the day would be for the three clan heads.

When they had arrived to the event held in Konoha's largest park a little late they were quickly ushered into the main marquee to greet the hosts. Temari immediately caught sight of Shikamaru in ceremonial robes and with his hair let loose. It made him look significantly different, but the sharp eyes were unmistakable.

She found it amusing seeing him hide a yawn after greeting his last guest, and indicated to her brothers to hide their footsteps.

They managed to sneak up to him, hidden by the noise from the mingling guests and Shikamaru's own distraction as he looked to the side. Temari cleared her throat when they finally stood in front of the shadow shinobi.

"Are you trying to cause an international incident?"

She smiled as he immediately whipped his head around at her voice.

It was good to see him again.

* * *

 **The last chapter felt too short so I'm releasing this one early.**

 **I feel I've written Temari as too much of a superwoman, no one can be all powerful and never struggle, therefore this chapter came about. Plus it's like she's always right when compared to Shikamaru or is a 100 steps ahead of him emotionally, so showing her in a moment of weakness evens things out a bit imo.**

 **Maybe people won't find her mental struggles to be true to her character, but I think if anything is going to get her down, wouldn't it make sense for it to be a bloody war where she loses her comrades under her command? I also don't think she would tell anyone about it because:**

 **a) no one had experienced something quite like what she did in the war and she didn't think anyone offering counselling would know what they are chatting about**

 **b) People expect her to cope**

 **c) she expects herself to cope**

 **I've tried not to make it too angsty because I personally don't like angst for the sake of it. Let me know what you think!**


	30. Chapter 30 - His worry

He hadn't been to a funeral for a long time, he didn't even go to his teacher's. His robes felt itchy and uncomfortable, but Shikamaru didn't complain.

A lot of people died. Those he recognized by sight, acquaintances and loved ones. There was no pattern to the dead, whether it was a matter of strength, age or gender. People just died.

He stood with Chouji and Ino in front of their father's caskets, but though their eyes stung and their hearts felt like lead, they didn't cry. They knew that they had to continue their fathers' legacies now and there was a time and place for tears when you are burdened with responsibility.

Their mutual losses united the team closer than ever with shared grief. In a twisted way he was glad that at the very least their fathers had died together. That they had died fighting with their best friends for the sake of the future.

Shikamaru saw from the edge of his vision his mother standing tall and unwavering nearby, with only a haunted look in her eyes to indicate the degree of devastation she was feeling.

He hadn't seen her cry, however from her slightly red eyes he suspected she did behind closed doors.

Shikamaru never realised that she was so strong.

When he had told Yoshino exactly what had happened to Shikaku she didn't collapse with grief like he thought she would. Instead an indescribable look came over her and she touched his cheek lightly, asking him if _he_ was alright. Shikamaru let the floodgates open then and the tears fell.

He had cried then, because the most respected man in his life was dead and it hurt. He cried because his mother had lost her lifelong companion and yet was so very strong whilst he felt utterly broken.

He cried because there wouldn't be a time to cry later outside the comfort of his home.

Shikamaru might have entered adulthood a while ago, but it was only now that he felt the door to his childhood lock firmly behind him. His teacher's death had made him a man, whilst his father's killed remnants of the boy left. Things could never be the same again.

On his 18th birthday he underwent an official ceremony in order to acknowledge his position as the Nara clan head. The ceremony itself was strictly a family affair, traditionally held within shadows and flickering candlelight like generations past.

However the after party was very much a public event and an important one at that.

It wasn't because his clan was particularly important in comparison to any other. Celebrations of clan ascensions usually just meant a small to medium sized gathering of loved ones, his one just happened upon unfortunate timing.

Part of it was Ino's fault because her birthday was so close to Shikamaru's, meaning that everyone decided on the grand idea of InoShikaCho celebrating their new statuses together at the same time. This alone had the result of the event blowing up three times in size.

Another timing issue was that they had just passed the general mourning period after the war. Combine this with the fact that all the kages and other foreign shinobi had agreed to attend, meant that this event marked the first time all the villages had gathered together in celebration after the bereavement period.

Shikamaru thought all this was the very definition of troublesome, but he smiled politely as acquaintances' congratulated him and played his part properly. This was just politics at the end of the day.

He glanced to the side when he had finished acknowledging a guest from the rain village and saw Chouji and Ino greeting theirs in different areas of the marquee. Shikamaru noted that Ino was enjoying the attention, whilst Chouji was doing his utmost to look as serious and unhungry as possible. They were both dressed in their ceremonial outfits and Shikamaru wondered if their clothes were as uncomfortable as his own.

"Are you trying to cause an international incident here?"

He whipped his head around at Temari's voice and managed to lock eyes straight onto the kazekage. Shikamaru quickly bit down on the remark that was on his lips as he glimpsed the kunoichi standing behind Gaara as per social conventions. He swore he saw her hiding a smile.

The kazekage smiled genially as he passed his present to Shikamaru.

"Apologies for my lateness and congratulations on your new position."

Shikamaru smiled back, this time perhaps more genuinely than with other guests.

"I thought you wouldn't be able to make it."

Gaara replied, "I would always have time for a friend, especially for moments like this."

They shook hands warmly.

"Thanks for coming, I really appreciate it."

"Thank you for inviting us."

Gaara made as if to move away as he continued, "My apologies. We should talk more later, I need to greet Ino and Chouji as well."

Shikamaru grinned, "Let it not be said that the kazekage has no manners."

The redhead had a twinkle in his eye and nodded graciously, before walking away.

Suddenly the leaf shinobi felt a slap on his back so hard that for a moment he couldn't breathe.

"Congratulations! Quite a party you have going on right now!"

Kankuro gave a laugh and lifted his hand as if to slap him on his back again, but this time Shikamaru neatly sidestepped out of the way.

"Skipping the birthday beats, thanks all the same," he smiled ruefully, "How have you been?"

"Same old, same old. Chilling, teaching and killing. You?"

Kankuro gave a hard handshake that crushed fingers, but the Konohan hid the pain well.

"Pretty much the same but with less killing involved."

"Good, good. Listen I have to catch up with Gaara even though he doesn't need a guard. It's the look of the thing."

Kankuro started walking away.

"Oh and here's your present!"

Shikamaru caught a small wrapped package that the purple faced youth threw.

"Kankuro wait for me, I'm not done yet!" Temari protested.

"Gaara only needs one of us with him, you guys catch up!"

Kankuro was already several paces away by now.

"We should get a beer together sometime now that you can drink!"

Shikamaru then lost sight of the sand shinobi amongst the other guests.

"That little arse." Temari muttered and they shared a look of exasperation before laughing.

"Anyways, this is from me."

Shikamaru accepted the wrapped cuboid shaped package from her suspiciously.

"Is this work related? Did you get me a notebook or something?"

She smiled and replied, "No it's not."

This answer gave pause to Shikamaru and he had a sudden niggling feeling that something about Temari was...off.

For one she didn't give a snarky comeback, for another her smile was different.

Before he could reflect on this gut feeling the kunoichi had held her hands out for an obligatory handshake and he obliged, wrapping his hands around her tanned ones. They were surprisingly smaller than he had expected.

"Congratulations," she said, "I mean it."

Her words were warm, but her grip felt uncharacteristically weak. Shikamaru remembered the firm almost to the point of painful handshake years ago. Something was wrong.

He looked closer at Temari's face and noted the hint of dark circles hidden under make up.

"Thanks," He said and used the time whilst their hands remained in contact to check her pulse.

 _Abnormal pacing._

"Shikamaru?"

Temari tugged at her hand slightly and after a moment he let go, feeling more and more ill at ease.

She had tried hiding it, but he could see that Temari was _tired._ Dangerously so.

He caught her startled gaze and watched the walls come down behind her eyes. The Sunan knew that she had been caught.

"I better go and join the other two, you have other guests to meet." Temari muttered and quickly took a step away towards the crowd.

Shikamaru's hand shot out like a snake and gripped her arm firmly.

"There's no one left to greet, what's the hurry?" He asked. Their point of skin contact felt hot and she was refusing to look at him.

"Let go, Shikamaru." Her voice was quiet, "I have to go."

"When was the last time that you slept?" He ignored her and stubbornly held on tighter.

She glared at him then, "That's not important right now, today isn't about me!"

Their voices were calm and measured despite the mood being anything but, and to the world it merely looked as if two friends were talking animatedly.

Temari gestured subtly with her other arm at their surroundings, at the smiling people and the marquee bathed in sunlight.

"Today is about you guys. Peace. Symbolism. Important things!"

She tried to pry his fingers off but he wouldn't budge. Shikamaru was never particularly strong strength wise when compared to Temari, but now he had no trouble holding her in place. This made him angrier somehow.

"You're important." He frowned, annoyed.

"No. My issues are personal. That's not the same as important right now." She hissed at him, "This is not the time or place for this, now let go before someone notices!"

There was a pause.

"You're right."

And he let go.

He watched her relieved expression for a moment before he casually stepped forward. Temari mimicked his footstep in horror.

She glanced down at their joined shadows before staring accusingly at him.

"This isn't the time and place to chat." He said somewhat cheerfully, "Let's change locations. Good day Ran san. Glad to see you enjoying yourself."

This was directed at a tipsy man he had rapidly passed as they walked towards the exit.

"I'm going to kill you." He heard Temari mutter to herself, but she smiled as people greeted her in passing.

He didn't doubt her words.

 **Loving Shikamaru's shadow techniques, so much potential for drama with its ability to control peoples' movements. It could be used subtly, whilst Temari's is pretty much cutting everything down in one go and perhaps setting fire to it in good measure.**

 **I have no clue how friendly Shikamaru would be with the sand brothers, but this seemed about right to me.**

 **I do think that this couple is close enough now that Shikamaru would be straightforward about them being friends, kind of in a 'you are important to me and I don't like you being stupid about your health.' kind of way.**

 **I've already written the next chapter and personally like it a lot, I think it's better than this one if a tad melodramatic. Releasing on Tuesday just to stick to some form of schedule. Hah! A schedule! How I make myself laugh.**

 **Woop 30 chapters! Wow! That's mental! 30 totally uneven chapters with the most random word counts ever!**

 **Please let me know your thoughts! Especially on how the tone of it feels.**


	31. Chapter 31 - Her guilt

Her body under the control of a foreign entity, Temari relaxed herself to the situation. There was little to be done right now, the shinobi had to release her at some point and there would be hell to pay then.

They passed several trees, buildings and people before the kunoichi realised the route.

 _The stadium._

Sure enough the familiar whitewashed building came into view and they were heading towards the entrance to the fighting grounds.

 _Why?_

They passed through the doors with the help of a set of carefully coiled shadow keys and entered the stadium floor, the first time that they had done so together since they were children. Temari thought to herself that she was a very different person from that time.

Shikamaru walked them to the middle of the grounds before he released control over her limbs. When his shadow had disentangled itself from hers Temari immediately began stretching her muscles carefully. She tested her legs, neck and arms; lifting, pulling and bending patiently. The Sunan then walked over casually to the shinobi.

And punched Shikamaru straight in the gut.

He doubled over slightly with a grunt of pain, but the Konohan didn't retaliate.

"Okay, I deserved that one." He winced as he gripped his chest.

Temari folded her arms angrily and asked, "What are you doing? It's your event!"

Shikamaru stood up again after recovering slightly and, ignoring her, shrugged off the uncomfortable looking ceremonial outer robe with some relief.

"I've showed my face. The other two can cover for me." He replied dismissively. Temari merely glared at him.

"You're being an idiot, you can't just walk away from things like that."

Shikamaru folded the robe up carefully and placed it neatly on the side before retorting,

"The same way that you're walking away from your problems?"

"That's different," her voice was unimpressed, "I'm talking about your duty here. Today is _your_ day."

"I remember someone calling me an idiot once for almost working myself to death."

She was silent at that.

"When I was...how do you say it?

Following my duty"

"That's different."

"How?"

The question was as quick as a snake.

She tried to deflect it, "It's troublesome to explain and you don't like trouble."

He refused to budge, "Try me."

 _Of all the times to give a crap!_

"No!"

"For God's sake Temari I'm worried about you!"

Shikamaru had raised his voice suddenly and though this surprised the kunoichi she was far too angry to oblige him. The nerve of the man!

"I can look after myself! I told you it's just personal issues. It's not important!"

He purposely stepped closer to her until they were barely half a metre apart.

"Yes it is!" He insisted.

"No it isn't!" She shouted before taking a step back.

 _Too close._

Temari fought down her temper and pinched a throbbing temple, she was getting a headache.

"Look." Temari sighed tiredly,

"Politics is important, peace is important."

She waved her over hand towards the direction of the marquee, whose sounds could still faintly be heard.

"Today is important."

Temari then spoke firmly, "Personal stuff is _not_ , at least not right now anyway."

She turned back to Shikamaru who was patiently for her to finish, a sceptical expression on his face.

"It's just...small stuff people go through whilst the big things are happening." The kunoichi offered a mirthless smile.

"I'm coping Shikamaru." She insisted, "Really."

The shinobi contemplated her words carefully before replying,

"You aren't the type to cope with problems, you deal with them."

Shikamaru continued matter of factly, "Not sleeping, pretending everything is fine and not relying on others, how is this different from how I acted when Asuma died?"

She protested impatiently, "Because it is! You chose to not eat or sleep!"

"So you _are_ having trouble sleeping?"

 _Shit_.

Temari stubbornly stayed silent. Shikamaru waited for a bit before sighing to himself when he realised she wasn't giving him anything more.

"Why do you never make things easy for me..."

 _Pot. Kettle._

He folded his arms and stated, "Fine, how about this, a question for a question?"

"Another game of yours? How childish." Her voice was scornful.

"Indulge me. Please."

His tone was carefully light, but he looked at her with eyes that were genuinely worried.

"We've survived a war together." He offered, a plea hidden behind the words.

"..."

 _Oh what the hell._

 _"_ Why did you bring me here Shikamaru? Of all places?"

"It's quiet and secluded."

She raised an eyebrow, " _Right_."

Temari waited until Shikamaru caved and admitted, "Also to remind you of our long friendship and hoping that it will let down your guard."

"I was _beating_ you up." She reminded him, "Then we tried to _invade_ your village."

The shinobi shrugged carelessly, "I never said it was the smoothest of relationships. My turn."

Temari braced herself.

"Why can't you sleep at night?"

 _Minimal talking. Small words. Don't make it a big deal._

She imitated his earlier shrugging motion, "Bad dreams."

"About the war?"

Temari frowned, "A question for a question." She said and Shikamaru scratched his head in irritation.

"What will make you go back to your own birthday party and pay attention to your very important guests?" She asked him accusingly, "And I mean very important guests?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"It's not my birthday party and you know that's not the point of today." He retorted, "Also you came late. I've already met everyone and made a speech by then."

His eyes were fixed unblinkingly on hers now and she wondered if they were always so piercing.

"Temari, stop trying to distract me. Were the dreams about the war?"

She almost wavered in her eye contact, but Temari merely folded her arms tighter. It wasn't defensiveness, she told herself, it was just annoyance.

"Yes."

He clicked his tongue in frustration, "You have to give me more than that!"

"No I don't."

 _I've no patience for this._

"This game is stupid, I'm leaving."

She turned around smartly and started walking when from the corner of her eye she noticed the telltale flicker of his shadow.

 _Not this time._

Shikamaru's shadow shot out towards her like a bullet and Temari immediately threw herself forwards in a blur of quick movements. Whilst in the midst of a backflip she slipped out a kunai and with a flick of her wrist threw it over her shoulder.

The metal spun haphazardly but its aim was true and smacked into Shikamaru's seal, he yelped and promptly separated his hands. Temari fell into a dead run towards him, now chasing the rapidly reducing shadow. She unclasped her tessen, hefted it in one arm and when she came close enough thrust it forward into the ground. Temari jumped up onto her fan, dislodged it neatly into her hands as she spun forward with the added momentum, before finally slamming into her target.

Her tessen pinned one arm down, she held down the other and Temari had one knee planted firmly on Shikamaru's chest as he laid on the floor with his breath knocked out.

She leaned forward until her face was inches from his as she snarled, "Will you stop that!?"

Adrenaline was coursing through her, this combined with the anger made her feel more alive than she had in a while.

He lifted his head even closer to her face and hissed, "Will you stop pretending everything's okay and tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm not pretending, I'm dealing with it!"

"Dealing with what!?"

His eyes were fierce, angry, kind and worried at the same time and Temari snapped.

"72, Shikamaru!" She shouted. "That's what!"

She freed his hand from her tessen and threw it to the side with a frustrated snarl, it crunched onto the ground and stayed lodged.

"72 lives!"

Temari breathed quickly, angrily. She didn't want to tell anyone this. She shifted her knee off Shikamaru and turned slightly off to the side, not looking at him.

Silence enveloped them, deafening in its presence. Shikamaru opened his mouth, his voice quiet.

"It was a war Temari."

She continued staring ahead of her at nothing in particular. The kunoichi could feel her hands shaking.

"I know."

"There was nothing you could have done in the circumstances."

Her tone came out slightly more clipped than she had intended.

"I _know_."

"It could have happened to anyone."

"I _know_!"

Temari turned then towards him, all harshness and trembling rage, her clenched fists shaking in barely enclosed feeling.

"But it didn't did it?" She spat, "It happened to _me_."

The kunoichi drew a ragged breath as she tried to calm herself.

"72 lives Shikamaru!"

Every word was fired like a bullet.

"They were my ninjas, my responsibility, my lives!"

"Next ti-"

"There won't be a next time! When will that number of shinobi gather in one squad again? I can never make up for those deaths, do you understand?"

She was shocked to find that her voice sounded so unlike her, frustrated and weak almost to the point of pleading. The useless words felt released from somewhere dark inside her.

The silence came back more potent than ever, but she sure as hell wasn't going to fill it. Temari turned her face away from him again, shifting her body round.

His next words shocked her.

"Of course I get it," Shikamaru said impatiently, almost angrily, "they were my shinobi too."

The adrenaline was wearing off and she could feel the by now familiar tiredness seeping into her skin and voice.

"You weren't there." She said simply, fatigue weighing on her statement.

"We have trained and disciplined the team together, we have decided strategies for them to use." He said firmly and she could feel him glaring holes at the side of her face.

"We have spent countless nights devising methods to boost morale and improve performance."

His arm gripped her shoulder and he turned her towards him.

"They were my responsibility too." He stated, "If it's your fault, then it's equally mine."

And with that he suddenly head butted her. Temari fell back and touched her forehead as she saw stars.

"Wha-?"

"And as someone who shares equal blame with you," he said fiercely, "I say we can forgive ourselves someday."

"What was that for?" She asked him, more surprised than angry. The pain was the first sense of real feeling that she had in a while and it made her head spin dizzily.

"I don't like fighting women, but you're the troublesome type who needs everything to be completely fair." He retorted. "There, you've suffered now. That means it's okay to forgive yourself."

"That's not how it works!"

"So your kicking yourself forever is a much better idea?" Shikamaru replied sarcastically, "Don't hog all the blame, we aren't heroes here."

It was the last sentence that got through to her.

She was tired of people calling her, a leader of a fallen squad, a hero. To be congratulated for her failures felt disgusting. It felt _wrong_.

Temari used to believe that winning the war was worth losing some battles. But now she thought that there was never any real winning, only the adjustment in the number of corpses.

So Shikamaru's insistence that they weren't heroes, weren't anything more than human beings trying to survive, that meant _something_.

Temari felt as if she could breathe properly for the first time in a while.

So she did. And whilst breathing in she felt the empty cloud that haunted her clear up momentarily.

For a few seconds she could feel everything, the fresh pain on her forehead, the feeling of dirt on her hands and the texture of the ground on her body. As she breathed out Temari felt better than she had in days. Her shoulders relaxed and her expression softened subtly.

"It will never be completely okay." She stated calmly, looking straight into the Konohan's eyes.

"No."

She was glad that he didn't lie to her.

Shikamaru then said, "But it will be better."

Temari closed her eyes briefly, thinking of the dead. She was silent for a while before she finally opened them. He didn't ask her a question, but she answered anyway.

"Yes."

He held out his hand to her, there was a pause before Temari accepted it. She gracefully stood up and retrieved her tessen carefully, dusting off the dirt from it. Her back straight and her professional and practical demeanour back in place.

Shikamaru also got up and wrapped himself in his traditional robe again. It was back to how they always were, two people who found it easier to care through actions rather than words.

"Let's get back to the party, I think they are starting to notice us missing now." He said, almost as if she hadn't just poured all her emotions, thoughts and feelings onto him.

She nodded and agreed, "Let's. Then I think..." The kunoichi finished that sentence casually and with a small yawn, "I think I need some sleep."

She doubt that the nightmares would stop overnight, if ever, and it would be unlikely that she could ever fully forgive herself.

But for the first time Temari could imagine that someday, somehow, at the end of the tunnel...there may be something similar to forgiveness.

Her yawn said everything that she needed to and Shikamaru's casual facade slipped again as his eyes showed relief.

He then smirked and said, "Yeah. You should. You look terrible."

She only punched him with half her strength this time and her smile was more genuine than it had been all day.

 **I can't write action. Like any. At** **all. Sorry. I like this chapter, please let me know your thoughts on it!**

 **Yay finally a none matching title name! Woo! Updates will be skipped for a while.**


	32. Chapter 32 - His feelings

"You're late."

Shikamaru pulled his hood off his head and defended himself, "It was my first trip alone!" he protested, "Your desert is no joke."

Temari grinned at him with, he noted, some pleasure and joked, "We have to keep out the riffraff somehow."

At least, Shikamaru thought she was joking.

"Here, take this." She threw a heavy pouch of liquid at him.

"What's this?" He asked suspiciously as he caught it.

"Aloe Vera juice, try it."

Shikamaru screwed open the container and drank some of the content quickly, his throat was burning after the desert trek.

"This is nice." He said in surprise as he wiped his mouth.

"Told you." Temari then turned around towards her village and indicated at him to follow, "Come on, we're on a tight schedule."

"It's good to see you too." Shikamaru replied sarcastically but followed her through the gates obediently.

"You're two hours late and I've given you a drink," Temari said over her shoulder, "I think that's fair."

Shikamaru grumbled at this and increased his pace in order to catch up to the kunoichi weaving quickly through the crowded streets.

 _There's a lot more tourists than before._

He came to represent Konoha for the charity ball that night to help raise funds for children orphaned by the war. It was the biggest event of the year and was held by the kazekage's family themselves, everyone and anyone was invited.

Finally the Sunan stopped in front of a nondescript inn and Temari barely paused for Shikamaru to catch up.

"You'll like the room, I've chosen this place myself," she said conversationally in the lobby. Shikamaru gave the area a look around and found nothing particularly interesting about it. If anything the inn seemed a little worn down.

Temari then turned towards the door and made as if to leave, "Well then, I better head off."

"Wait, where are you going?" Shikamaru asked in confusion.

She turned and looked at him, "Home." She said simply, "I need to prepare for tonight."

"But that's three hours away!"

"Exactly." Temari retorted, "So I better get started now. I'm representing my village, remember?"

"But what about food?"

"Oh." The kunoichi seemed to finally understood what he was getting at. "I already ate," she said, "you were late to meet me at the gates."

It wasn't an accusation, merely a statement of the facts.

Temari then gave a toothy grin, "Too nervous to eat alone in Sunagakure? Don't worry, we won't bite."

She paused as if a thought had just hit her before adding, "Much."

Shikamaru scowled, "That's not what I mean," he said, "Shouldn't you be looking after your guests?"

"You are hardly new to this village," the kunoichi snorted, "you've been here before."

Her eyes then softened a little, "Sorry Shikamaru, but I really need to go. This thing requires me to look the part and I'm already pushing it timewise."

Shikamaru saw her genuinely apologetic expression and scratched his head with a sigh, "It's troublesome, but fine. It's my fault anyway."

They had worked together long enough for them to know when the other was being serious or not.

"Try the inn special on the menu today, it's just as good as the bento meal they serve in the Jasmine Rooms." She recommended, "You'll like their traditional Sunan tea set as well."

Temari twisted the door handle and the sounds if the outside filtered in.

"Tell the chef that the meal is on me and they will send the bill."

"Thanks for the offer but I can't let a woman pay for me."

"Ha! We are so past this bullshit, Shikamaru."

"Nope." He frowned stubbornly, "Not happening."

Shikamaru no longer had issues with working with women, but the sense of chivalry beaten into him as a child stuck when it came to certain things.

Temari shrugged carelessly, "Suit yourself." She was used to this side of him by now.

"I'll see you in three hours then? Or are we meeting there?" He asked her.

"We'll meet here." Temari replied, "you _are_ officially my guest after all, I'll try to be quick."

And with that she left the inn, closing the door firmly behind her.

Shikamaru stood on the spot for a while for lack of anything to do until his stomach decided for him by protesting for food. He therefore walked over to the attached restaurant to the building and allowed himself to be ushered to a seat.

The shinobi ordered the meal that Temari had recommended. It tasted good, she knew his preferences well. This annoyed him.

He wondered what it was that Temari had to do that would require at least three hours of her time.

Shikamaru knew that Ino and the other women he was close to needed generally around half a day to prepare for special formal occasions, but for some reason he couldn't imagine Temari doing the same. He had worked with her for so long now that he rarely saw her in terms of her gender.

She was simply...Temari.

Surely she could have spared _some_ time?

 _It's not as if she would look any different._

Shikamaru didn't care for the power of makeup and clothes.

 _And I always have time for her for the first meal._

There wasn't a _rule_ per se that they would eat the first meal together when either had just arrived in town.

But it had happened often enough that there was at least an _expectation_ that this would be part of their routine.

 _How inconsiderate,_ he thought.

The shinobi tried the tea that Temari had told him to order. It was delicious, but that only annoyed him even more.

When he had finished his meal Shikamaru wandered upstairs and got changed into his formal outfit. That took precisely 15 minutes (he counted) and when he had done so, the shinobi wondered what it was about the place that had Temari so impressed. It was simply a small and comfortable room with a single bed, there was nothing special about it.

That was until he found that the balcony gave an easy access to the roof.

He climbed out to find that the location of the inn meant an unspoilt view of the surrounding village and the brilliant star filled sky. This framed the shifting desert dunes beautifully and took his breath away.

He remembered that Temari had boasted before of Sunagakure's night view.

 _She's right. Again._

Shikamaru was irritated by this, but he still laid down quite happily on the roof. It had been a while since he had a chance to skywatch, the Konohan simply hadn't had an opportunity to relax with the amount of work that he was responsible for lately. The days where he could indulge in his innate laziness were becoming few and far between.

Gazing at the stars, which appeared brighter than in Konoha, the shinobi could understand a little of Temari's utter devotion for her village. Time passed comfortably.

"I knew you'd be up here."

Shikamaru heard a soft sound nearby and felt someone land near his vicinity.

 _Half an hour early._

He turned his head to greet Temari, but when he saw her Shikamaru suddenly found that he couldn't quite speak. Instead he got up silently.

 _Wow_.

Even Shikamaru, the last person to ever appreciate female fashion, could tell that she looked good.

Temari had done something to her hair that he didn't quite understand, but it looked glossy, healthy and more complicated than usual despite being ostensibly just a bun.

He couldn't notice any make up. But her skin glowed with health and her eyes were sparkling. Shikamaru then glanced at her lips and for some reason felt his throat suddenly dry up and he needed to clear it.

Then there was the dress.

It was just a simple black dress, but on closer inspection this simplicity was merely deceptive.

The outfit casually accentuated all her best assets, whispering across her skin and fitting her frame perfectly. It was the type of garment that can only come about with the most ingenious tailoring and an outrageous amount of money.

She looked stunning.

"Shikamaru? Hey!"

The shinobi blinked and realised that he was staring at her in silence for a while now.

He was feeling a mixture of shock and confusion, because though he knew her to be a troublesome woman, the emphasis was more on _troublesome_ rather than _woman_.

He opened his mouth, but had to swallow again because of the dryness.

"You," he began again and wondered momentarily about what he was going to say, "Look good." He finally finished.

 _What's wrong with me?_

"I know." She agreed easily, as if he wasn't acting any differently, "Turns out two hours is all I needed. Drink before we go?"

At this she proffered a bottle and cups that he knew from a glance was taken from his room.

"You can drink now, right?" Temari frowned, "I forget that you're younger than me."

Shikamaru took the offered glass without thinking, he was never good with most alcohol and usually refused, but right now the shinobi felt too out of his element to react like he would normally.

 _What do I do normally?_ He wondered, _What do I say?_

His mind was a blank.

So Shikamaru instead chugged the drink down in two gulps and wiped his mouth. Too late he remembered that Sunagakure had some of the strongest liqueur in the world and before long he felt a warm buzz in his head and a pink cloud descending on his thoughts.

He was in a village not his own in clothes he wouldn't usually wear, drinking alcohol he normally wouldn't touch and his close colleague wasn't exactly how she usually was.

And all he could think about for some reason was a dream he had so very long ago.

"We've known each other for a long time now right?"

The Konohan realised that it was his slurred voice speaking. It felt foreign.

She looked at him with her piercing teal eyes then and the small part of his brain that was yet unclouded by the alcohol thought he noticed a glimpse of something like panic in her eyes.

"Temari I-"

"Finished already?" She interrupted him and poured him another glass.

"Wait for me this time," she ordered, "We should toast."

Shikamaru stared at her and wondered at what he was going to say. It felt important. He shook his head slowly to himself, trying to bat away the pink cloud, and asked with difficulty,

"To what?"

Temari smiled strangely and looked him straight in the eye,

"To friendship." She said firmly.

"Friendship?" He echoed.

"It's been around seven years, have you forgotten? One year since the Shinobi Union started."

 _The Shinobi Union._

Shikamaru had worked closer than ever with Temari once the union had established its own headquarters, building up on the rapport that they had naturally fostered during the war.

It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that they relied on each other a lot. His work output was at least just as good as anyone else's when she wasn't around, but significantly better when she contributed.

Their relationship was one of a kind.

 _What the hell was I just thinking of?_

Shikamaru shook his head slowly in his hands.

 _About a close_ _ **colleague**_.

He stared at the full glass in his hands and then at the Sunan who was holding her own drink towards him.

 _About_ _ **Temari.**_

 ** _Slap!_**

The kunoichi raised an eyebrow at the youth who had just slowly put down his glass and then slapped his cheeks with both hands.

"Sobering up." He said by way of explanation, "This stuff is potent."

Shikamaru felt more like himself again with the stinging pain waking him up.

 _She just looks different. She's still Temari_ , he thought to himself.

 _"_ Weak" The kunoichi smirked.

 _Bothersome, mouthy and always has to win._

Shikamaru clinked the glass against the Sunan's.

 _A trusted comrade and friend._

"To friendship." He said firmly. The shinobi didn't drink and just wetted his lips slightly.

 _I should avoid drinking any more tonight._

He smiled fixedly and gestured towards the direction of the town hall, "Shall we set off?" He asked, "Or are you planning to get drunk first?"

"Ha! I'm not the weakling here." snorted the Sunan and Shikamaru had to close his eyes and hold his breath slightly when she brushed past him.

 _I must still be drunk,_ he thought grimly.

As Shikamaru followed his guide to the work function he had resolved to himself to never accepting a drink from Temari again.

* * *

 **This chapter came about because there's only so long a period of time** **before Shikamaru really should notice something between himself and Temari. Unless he was like clinically stupid or something. Plus Temari would definitely have done something about the relationship if she wanted to, so my conclusion is that she didn't want to. What do you guys think? realistic?**

 **The next chapter would cover Shikamaru Hiden.** **I don't want to cover the books in too many chapters because, well, the stories are already in written form. It's hard enough to cover manga chapters in an original way without doing the same for something written purely with words. They also made Temari seem quite shy in the Konoha hiden so now I have to make something up to make that plausible. Sigh. This is hard.**


	33. Chapter 33 - Her feelings

She was not good at tears, never had been.

So she was horrified to find herself _tearful_ twice in a week, over a _man_.

Temari was meant to be _over_ this, her silly crush should have passed its expiry date years ago.

She valued their relationship of course, it was arguably more dear to her than her romantic ones in some ways. Shikamaru was a trusted comrade whom she can rely on as her backup whether during meetings or missions and she was the same for him.

They were friends.

Except Temari wasn't sure she would cry over a friend not confiding in her. No matter how strong the friendship.

And to her it was crying, it may not have been a great weeping involving a river of tears, but there was just enough wetness in her eyes that she couldn't ignore it. Couldn't lie to herself.

It _hurt_ more than it should knowing he didn't trust her enough to confide his troubles to her. The arsehole _knew_ that she knew something was wrong. They could read each other or less like a book now, so it was _frustrating_ when the Shikamaru physically hid his thoughts from his features.

She knew it was something illegal then, knew he was trying to protect her in his own stupid way. But surely he could have trusted her? After all these _years_? All their history?

But behind the feeling of anger there was a _sadness_ and _yearning_ she was unprepared for, that she had hidden away deep inside.

She _wanted_ him to trust her, wanted to support him by his side.

Always.

She didn't know when her affection for him became something deeper than she had consciously allowed, but from the moment she had realised it, it was as if she had always thought of him in that way.

Temari knew why it took so long for her to realise this truth. It was simply _easy_ to ignore her feelings for him over the years, to forget them, trivialise them. It was funny how the war made that easy.

Dealing with the dead, the injured, the recovery and the hard won peace took up everybody's time. It was only now that some semblance of stability had solidified, two years after the war.

In that time she had worked closer to Shikamaru than ever before, and somehow the feelings that she thought trapped in its adolescence had crept up on her, mutating into something far bigger than ever. She couldn't blame it on hormones anymore.

It was mortifying.

She really didn't want to feel this way about him, not as they were now.

Yes, he was certainly no longer immature. After the war Shikamaru had changed subtly from a mature boy to a boyish man.

Yes, in this brave new world where every village was connected she no longer saw Sunagakure as the only centre of the world.

But all of this paled to the fact that she probably cared more for this relationship than he did, especially after this lying incident, and they were far too _close_.

She knew he liked her of course, at the very least he was aware of her as a woman. By a year after the war even Shikamaru had noticed that there was something between them.

There was even a scary moment when Temari thought he was going to initiate something, Shikamaru was not as experienced in ignoring his feelings as she was.

But that moment had passed, because things were too busy and they relied too much on their current relationship. Temari was relieved then, glad that they didn't let a little crush ruin something worth a great deal more. She had tried to ignore the part of her that was disappointed at the time.

They had kept their feelings hidden ever since and things had returned to some form of normality.

Until now.

Knowing that Shikamaru was hiding something from her shook her badly and made her quite certain that though he might have liked her, his feelings weren't as strong as she had just discovered hers to be.

This discovery was met with frustration at not being trusted, at caring for this man more than she ought to and at being so very useless.

The first time Shikamaru made Temari cry she realised that she was in love with him.

And so the punch came on reflex. She was never very good at tears.

The second time he made her cry she was back in Suna. The first thing Temari did when she went back was to break up with the person she was dating at the time. They were only together for less than a month, two weeks excluding her trip to Konoha, and there was no point in wasting anyone's time when she could only think of someone else.

And indeed she found herself _worrying_ about the stupid man the whole time she was back, even though it would have been completely his fault if he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere, just because he was too idiotic to ask for help. That thought did not make her feel better.

She tried to ignore her fears, Shikamaru was his own person after all, but after pacing around distracted all day and breaking far too many things Temari finally got up and went straight to Gaara. She was never very good at waiting either.

When she made her thoughts known to her brother, Temari found her eyes feeling irritatingly wet again. Even talking about that ridiculous idiot brought back all the frustration. The harsh sand of the desert teased a full droplet of water from her eyes and so she blamed it as the source, even though she was born in the sand and was used to playing in an air alive with it.

Her brother accepted her lies and gracefully made up a reason for her to go to Shikamaru, for which she was forever grateful.

Gaara was more innocent than Kankuro, he knew she was close to the leaf shinobi, but understood little of the concept of a love different from family and friendship. So she was glad that he didn't question her further and accepted her brother's kindness. It was the first favour she had ever asked from him for her benefit alone.

The second time Shikamaru made Temari cry, she fully appreciated how understanding her family was to her.

It was difficult to work out where Shikamaru was and what his plans were, the man was very good at his job. If she wasn't someone close to him then the task would have been nigh impossible. But she did find out, because she was also very good at her job, and once she had done so it was a simple task to rustle up a group of ninjas to join her. She had built up a good and reliable network and had pulled in a few favours that had accumulated over the years.

When she found him in the depths of the enemy's territory he was, as per usual, in a rather sorry state and about to give up. Again.

And so she shouted him back into his senses, in the process of which she revealed more than she had planned to ("Y _ou are the man that I have chosen_!")

In that moment of declaration she felt all her pent up feelings finally released into the surface, and she was suddenly freed from something she never knew she was trapped by. Knowing something was true was very different from saying it out loud after all. Her words worked as well, for Shikamaru broke from whatever trance he was in and was quickly back on form.

However when it rains, it pours and soon afterwards Temari thought she might actually die whilst fighting Sai. It was strange how hours battling through the swarms into the main hall made her struggle against a friend whom she didn't want to kill. But she didn't mind all that much, she thought that to die having saved a loved one and having confessed your feelings wasn't such a bad way to go.

It was a lie to say she wasn't grateful when she got out of it alive though.

When it was all over Temari was satisfied. Satisfied that she had said and done all that she had wanted to, and she was prepared to finally begin letting go of her long compressed feelings and to return to their important friendship. Temari had decided this to herself whilst walking away during a cheerful goodbye to Shikamaru.

To her the situation was simply this:

There was once a boy and a girl who were very different. They became enemies, then reluctant allies and then friends. One day the girl realized that she liked him but she ignored it, until years later she realized that this was love. She confessed. And then she walked away, because he owed her nothing.

It was a simple story.

Therefore it was a surprise when Shikamaru had called her back. To be honest she was a little irritated at him for it, because it was difficult to walk away from your feelings when the object of those feelings wouldn't physically let you leave.

And so she stood there impatiently as Shikamaru stared at her in a rather stupid manner.

Then he asked her on a date.

She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry. A large part of her, the part that had decided to walk away, was surprised at this turn of events. But a smaller part of her, the part made up of every semblance of disappointed hope, thought-

 _Finally_.

Temari took an exaggeratedly long time to answer him, stretching out the pause before grinning teasingly.

"How troublesome."

* * *

 **I wasn't joking about breezing through the hiden books. I really did enjoy reading them, because they made the two more mature than in the manga. Temari wasn't always angry and as trigger happy as fanfiction would make you believe sometimes and Shikamaru wasn't lazy all the time. They seemed to have grown up from their youth which is expected of young adults who had been through a lot together. Of course that depends on how legit you think the books are.**

 **Anyways, yaaaay they are dating! FINALLY. Oh wow talk about a slow burn. I think writing a pro active Shikamaru is going to be quite fun, because from what I've seen, he seems the type to go all out once he has decided on something. I can totally imagine a Temari who's surprised into a defensive position now that a clueless guy she had a crush on has fully realised his feelings and is -gasp- acting on them.**


	34. Chapter 34 - His Understanding

Dating Temari didn't feel particularly different from their relationship before. They talked, they ate and they generally spent a lot of time together. As per their usual routine pre-dating.

Why didn't this happen long ago?

Shikamaru pondered this as the couple laid on his favourite spot cloud watching. Temari was still finding it difficult to relax sometimes, but she was improving.

The only real difference were moments like the one they were having now, where he had casually edged his arm towards hers before he felt her hand gripped his before he managed to do so.

Shikamaru didn't turn his head from his comfortable position on the roof, but he felt a tad annoyed that she was the first to initiate contact. He then noticed the slightest hint of a tremor in the kunoichi's fingers and smiled a little to himself as he weaved his fingers tighter into hers.

For some reason finding an unexpectedly nervous side of Temari, no matter how minuscule, made him extremely happy.

"You're grinning too much." She said, but Temari made no attempt to move her hand.

"You're blushing." He replied simply.

His words caused the slightest hint of red on her ears to spread a little more.

"Stop pretending you're so unaffected." She argued, but the Sunan was trying to hide a grin.

The flirting was new and had only ever occurred in private, but Shikamaru found that he surprisingly enjoyed it. There were few things more exciting than teasing a smile from Temari and in a way it was like a game. One that he was getting better at as time went by.

His biggest victory was when he had surprised her by holding her hand in a busy marketplace, Temari's cheeks turning rosy as an apple was worth the agony of her purposely stepping on his foot.

 _Seriously, why didn't we do this earlier?_

Shikamaru then remembered a night long ago, when he had seemed on the verge of an epiphany that was frustratingly chased into the shadows. He frowned as he tried to concentrate on the memory.

"We should head off, we have a table booked for lunch." Temari got up from her position, releasing his hand in the process. Grumbling to himself as he willed his brain to work faster, Shikamaru reluctantly stood up as well.

He raced though memories of a fog of alcohol, a radiant Temari and the feeling that he had left important words left unsaid.

 _Ah_.

"Before we go-" Shikamaru let the words spill hurriedly from his mouth.

Temari had already begun walking off and without thinking the shinobi gripped onto her elbow.

She turned towards him then quizzedly.

"What?"

Shikamaru cleared his throat, "Why didn't we do this earlier?"

She seemed confused at his question, "You wanted to cloud watch first, remember?"

"No, I mean." He shook his head, not really sure at what he was asking but needing to _know_ , " _This_."

 _Our relationship._

"Us."

Temari stared at him a long time, her face a complete enigma to him for the first time in a while.

"Oh."

She appeared to give it some thought before shrugging.

"Well, you never asked and I never asked. Come on, we have a booking."

Again she tried to move off, only for Shikamaru to hold onto her again.

"No," he insisted, "that's not right."

Everything seemed so clear with hindsight.

"Do you remember over a year ago when we had that work event in Sunagakure?"

Temari gave a frown at this.

"You mean the time I found out you couldn't dance if your life depended on it?" She asked before grinning, "My feet remember."

"No, before then."

Shikamaru sounded thoughtful if half confused as he said the next words.

"I think...no I'm sure..." His voice continued determinedly, "that I was going to ask you out when we were on the roof that time."

She stared at him, "You were drunk. On one glass of whisky."

 _So she does remember._

"Doesn't matter. It was more or less where the night was going."

The shinobi was certain then, certain that he was on the cusp of defining the feelings he felt towards Temari that night. Only it never happened as he was interrupted by-

"Why did you stop me then?"

Shikamaru stared straight into her eyes questioningly. He remembered.

"Stop you?" Temari had a perfect poker face.

"Yes. You had a weird look and then you suddenly wanted to toast to our friendship."

It _was_ weird at the time. It seemed so _obviously_ out of place now.

There was a moment of silence as Temari processed his words.

"...I guess you weren't as drunk as I thought." She finally said.

He repeated, "Why did you stop me?"

She was silent for a bit longer at this and Shikamaru could finally see the thoughts racing through her head now. Finally she spoke carefully,

"The same reason why you never did ask me that night."

The shinobi thought about this and realised the truth in her words.

He remembered now waking up the morning after with a splitting headache and being utterly confused at why he was thinking such strange thoughts about a close colleague.

He remembered the strange and indescribable feeling of _something_ in the air whenever he talked with Temari afterwards, only for it to be easily chased away with their workload and the sheer comfort of their relationship. A relationship he relied on enough to almost have taken for granted.

Shikamaru realised that he had been hiding the truth from himself all along.

This opened up a whole new set of questions, most notably about the woman currently standing in front of him.

 _She had known about this, probably for a while now._

Temari stood there patiently, giving him time to think, until Shikamaru processed all these thoughts and finally asked the question.

"You knew?"

 _That there was something between us that wasn't quite friendship?_

He thought back to all the little signs over the years, perhaps even as early as the period when she first became her village's liaison. Temari sometimes gave him indescribable gazes that he would catch but not quite understand, looks that make him feel all of the differences within their age gap. They were rare, so rare that he had assumed that he had imagined them all.

"I suspected." Temari said simply.

"Why did you agree now?"

"Why did you ask me now?"

Because this wasn't something that they could hide from anymore.

Because he admitted to himself that he cared for her more than their current relationship allowed for.

Most importantly, because if he didn't-

"Because if I didn't…you would have left."

He couldn't explain it after the country of sound business finished, but Shikamaru had a sudden gut feeling whilst saying goodbye to Temari...that if he didn't ask her out at the time there wouldn't be another chance.

There was just something about the look in her eyes...

"…Yes." Temari confirmed this.

They smiled at each other then and the atmosphere, though not exactly serious, lightened significantly. It felt as if they had confirmed something important.

"Then I'm glad I asked."

"You're lucky you asked," she teased, "I was going to cut you loose."

"I am." he agreed sincerely and took her hand, catching her off guard. Teal eyes met brown ones. Time stilled.

He held his other hand to her face and leaned towards her, Temari moved closer as well...

"Hi guys!" came a familiar loud voice.

Shikamaru turned in irritation to the blonde youth who had called to them from the street below. Naruto gave a wide grin and in a flurry of movements was on the roof in front of the couple.

"On a date?" He asked cheekily, trying not very hard to hide the juvenile grin on his face.

"Yes, Naruto." They replied simply.

"Really!? I knew it!" The hyperactive shinobi was practically dancing in triumph, "Who's the man? I'm the man! Who called it? I called it!"

The couple merely watched him silently as Naruto continued congratulating himself.

"So how are things? Enjoying yourselves?" He stopped to ask mid-dancing.

"We were." Shikamaru said bluntly, feeling annoyed with his friend.

"Oh? What happened? Did this lazy ass piss you off? He's actually a really good guy!" This was directed at Temari who stared at him, confused as to how the hero of the village could be so absolutely clueless.

The shadow shinobi sighed and interrupted Naruto's spiel to the Sunan about how great a catch her date was.

"You happened, Naruto."

Naruto looked confusedly at Shikamaru before turning to the kunoichi. "Really?" he asked, "I'm in the way?"

"Yes Naruto." Temari said, "Yes you are." But she looked decidedly more amused than annoyed.

"Well I leave you two to it then!" The blonde said cheerfully and with a quick hand seal, puffed into non existence.

 _Bastard used a shadow clone to interrupt us!_

They turned to each other then, a little speechless. Temari broke the silence first.

"So he's going to be Hokage someday?"

Shikamaru scratched his neck and muttered, "Yeah..."

"And you are going to be his adviser?"

"That's the plan."

"…"

"…"

Her voice was genuinely curious, "Any regrets?"

Shikamaru frowned and admitted,

"Every now and again."

They burst into chuckles at each other then, laughing until their stomachs ache and Shikamaru quite naturally entwined his hand around hers. Temari didn't stop him.

"Shall we go?" He asked. She nodded and they began walking the familiar route down the streets, hand in hand.

* * *

 **This chapter took absolutely ages to write. I have forgotten why.**

 **Well anyways the purpose of his chapter is to establish exactly why they chose to date when they did. It was fricking hard to twist some logic into that and I really hope I managed it. Let me know what you think! Does it feel plausible or is flirty Shikamaru too OOC?**

 **In other news, people seem to really like the last chapter in comparison to the others haha. Super appreciative of that! Especially as it was sitting languishing in a cupboard for months.**


	35. Chapter 35 - Her Contemplations

"If we are enemies tomorrow, would you kill me if you need to?" he asked suddenly one day.

Temari continued chewing on the dango piece, when she had finished she turned to Shikamaru in an annoyed way.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked irritably.

The shinobi shrugged. They had been sitting side by side in comfortable silence in the tea house veranda when he had suddenly sprung the morbid question on her.

"You're the one who's always talking about duty, and theoretically it's possible that our villages relations could collapse one day." he said, "So would you?"

 _What a stupid question._

"Gaara would never let that happen, not with Naruto here." she retorted, "Unless there's something going on that you aren't telling me?" Temari looked at him suspiciously.

Shikamaru held his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I'm aiming for the advisor position in the future, so I have to know of all the possibilities." he reassured her, "It's just a thought exercise, so would you?"

"I'm always ready to kick your ass to next Wednesday," she replied sweetly and then made to take her fan out, "I can do it right now if you want?"

Ever since they had started dating Temari found herself joking around more often, there was something about being with Shikamaru that just relaxes her. Every trouble she had felt shared with him around.

"Oh come on, I'm serious." his voice showed annoyance.

The Sunan looked at his expression and could tell he really was. So she slipped her fan back onto the floor and thought about the question carefully, chewing on another dango in her contemplations.

Would she do it?

Nothing was certain in this world. Should anything happen to the hokage and kazekage, then it was not unthinkable that the bonds which had appeared so strong could wither and break easily in a moment.

Yes it was unlikely, especially in this strange new present after the war where everyone felt curiously hopeful, but it was possible.

And so she thought about it carefully, imagined taking a kunai to his throat, poisoning him with his food, cutting him down with a jutsu...

"Yes." she said simply.

Because she would. Because a comrade of seven years and a boyfriend of two months could not compare to her village. Because she lived for her people and her brothers. And because she was a ninja and had her pride. It was the only choice.

He frowned slightly, the shinobi didn't look surprised but Temari could see the annoyance in his features.

"I thought you would think that," Shikamaru said, "But you could have said it differently."

 _He's cute when he's sulking._

"You asked and I answered," She replied, "Would you rather I lied?"

"No..." he muttered, "But still..."

He wasn't looking at her now but at the clouds in the sky. There was a hint of a pout and the kunoichi was reminded of when she had first met him, when he was all attitude and set in his ways.

"Surely you would have done the same?" Temari questioned, "If we were at war tomorrow you shouldn't hesitate to cut me down."

"No I wouldn't." Shikamaru said seriously, "I would have found an alternative."

"Maybe it wouldn't be the first plan in your brain, but it should be the 200th or so!" she found herself asking in disbelief, "If I were a danger to Konoha surely you should be prepared to kill? Especially with all that I know about this village?"

 _Surely he isn't that naive?_

"Nope, none of my plans would involve really hurting you, let alone killing you." His voice was firmly stubborn.

Their eyes met then, and Temari saw how upset he was, but it only made her irritated. Did he think her an easy opponent?

 _Stupid man._

She gripped onto his arms and leaned in closer to his face.

"Don't." the kunoichi warned him sharply.

He leaned in too, "Don't what?" he challenged. Their noses were an inch apart and she could feel his breath tickling her face.

"Don't let your emotions override your mind." She said quietly, "I didn't choose a weak man who would get himself killed because of a woman."

"I'm not easy to kill. And it's not weak to protect everything you care for." Shikamaru replied, his face came closer and Temari found her heart beating fast and her hands clammy.

"I'm not an easy opponent," she whispered, "And if you care for your survival or have any respect for me as a ninja, then you should come at me with the intention to kill when necessary." They were nose to nose now. The air stilled and she felt something in the atmosphere.

"That's not my shinobi way." Shikamaru murmured, "I would use everything in my power to find an alternative." He held her face gently and Temari found that she surprisingly believed his words, "That's my will of fire."

And their lips met.

It was a soft and quiet kiss with a hint of sweetness from the dangos. They kissed patiently, enjoying the sensation fully and living purely in the moment. When they broke their embrace Temari frowned at Shikamaru disapprovingly.

"You leaf ninja are too soft." She scolded, but her eyes were gentle and there was the beginning of a smile on her lips.

 _He's too kind, this boyfriend of mine._

Shikamaru shrugged carelessly and leaned back on the veranda, facing the sky. "You're just too cruel." he argued, "Being willing to kill your boyfriend at a moment's notice."

"It's a thought exercise!" Temari punched him in the shoulder, "There's no chance of it happening! And anyway..."

She looked at the sky as well. Temari had learnt to appreciate cloud watching as much as Shikamaru by now.

 _I love you._

"I would hesitate."

Temari knew her message got through to him when she felt his hand enclosing over hers. She grinned widely.

In a way dating Shikamaru had made her soft as well.

* * *

 **Yay a** **slightly morbid chapter! And they finally kissed! Isn't that sweet? This was actually written a while back but I didn't know where to stick it at all initially.** **Does this chapter feel d** **epressing or cute?**

 **I've gotten some really lovely reviews that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, which I really do appreciate and try to make personalised replies for. I think people have been too nice to me though, because there's been no criticism of my grammar or awkward sentence structures so far!**

 **This story is almost over now (less than 10 chapters left) and I'm going over everything with a fine toothed comb afterwards. I'm not planning to hit 100 chapters as that imo is overkill considering my next longest finished story was like...three chapters.**


	36. Chapter 36 - Konoha hiden

"You're kidding me right?!"

Temari paused in her footsteps at the voice.

 _That sounds familiar._

She turned around and saw Shikamaru standing off to the side with Chouji, a look of surprise on his face. The kunoichi supposed it was a surprise. This was just a day trip to Konoha and so she hadn't even had the time to tell him she was in town.

She gave him a questioning look, "What, so it's you who yelled. What're you doing?"

 _It isn't like him to cause a scene._

Shikamaru looked uncharacteristically nonplussed and his voice was curiously jittery as he spoke.

"O-oh yeah. We were just eating lunch and then… well, that aside, what're you…?"

Temari quirked her eyebrow. Just what in the world is going on? She hadn't seen him so confused since he had asked her out.

"I'm going around giving my greetings prior to the Chuunin Exam meetings."

"Chuunin exams? We still have a way to go until they start, don't we?"

"Well, you could say that this year we're having meetings about the meetings." The Sunan gave a wry smile. She had a lot of work to complete and needed to get back to her village.

Temari watched suspiciously as Shikamaru moved a little closer to Chouji and whispered something somewhat furiously, glancing back at her once or twice.

She wasn't the type to get nervous easily, but the kunoichi would be lying if she said that this interesting behaviour wasn't making her feel vaguely self-conscious. Shikamaru had been a lot less predictable lately.

"What're you two sneaking around for?" Temari tried to hide the doubtful look on her face. "You look suspicious."

Chouji spoke cheerfully, "Shikamaru wants to ask you about something."

 _Then why isn't he asking me?_

She looked in confusion at the bigger man but Chouji's face was cheerful with the usual good natured look in his eyes. Sometimes Temari wondered if the man was much smarter than he had let on, Chouji was always projecting an aura of purity, and no shinobi can be that innocent. But looking into his eyes she got nothing except a feeling of being tricked and so Temari turned to Shikamaru questioningly instead.

"Well…you…" Shikamaru blustered, as if he was shocked with electricity at her gaze.

"Well, that's, I mean…"

She watched his body language then, noted the tense muscles and the shifting eyes. She narrowed her own eyes, her sense of unease was rising.

Finally, he blurted out, "…I've been thinking about it, but, for a honeymoon, where do you think is good?"

 _What!?_

"Eh?!"

To her surprise Temari realized the strangely strangled voice came from herself.

"What?!"

Her words tumbled inelegantly from her mouth, stumbling over each other in a panic, as if mimicking her emotions.

"You- tha- ho- honeymoon…?!"

 _What? How? Huh?_

Suddenly she couldn't look him in the eye. Already the Sunan could feel the heat rising on her skin in an automatic reaction.

 _Calm down! He might not be talking about…what you are thinking of!_

"Sorry." Shikamaru apologised. "I know it's unexpected, but I want to hear your thoughts."

Temari stared at him, bewildered and flustered.

 _Come on. Calm down. You're a Jonin for goodness sake._

That didn't help for some reason. All she could think of was-

 _But why else would he ask me if it wasn't about…that!?_

"Wh- why ask about th- that to me?" She cringed internally at her tone, never had she felt so out of her depth, as if being sucker punched.

Shikamaru looked confused at her expression as if what they were talking about was perfectly normal, this only made her the more agitated, "Well, I guess because I thought asking you would be best…"

"A-asking me would be best…"

 _Oh God, he is-!_

Temari immediately broke eye contact and began fidgeting unnaturally.

The shinobi asked, "I think it'd be good to relax at a hot spring inn, but what do you think? It doesn't sound too old fashioned?"

Without thinking Temari answered half distractedly, "I…it seems fine…"

 _I love hot spri- wait! That's not the issue right now! There's a procedure to this right?!_

"Alright, great. I'm glad. An inn by the hot springs with good food is the best, huh." Shikamaru had the most relieved smile on his face, as if he was merely asking her favourite colour. Temari broke into a full on internal panic. It wasn't as if she didn't consider their future, but this was-!

"Don't tell me you still have some business to take care of…?" He asked in a concerned voice at her silence.

"Ah, no, I'm done for today… I was about to go home."

 _Shit! Why didn't I make an excuse?_ Temari thought in a panic, _Do I want to talk about this?_ _I mean we have dated for a while…no that's not the issue! Why did he bring up this topic so out of the blue? And in front of Chouji!_

"…?" Shikamaru tilted his head, as if confused at her response.

 _How can he be so calm!?_

"It'd be best to check out some inns later, right?" Chouji piped up happily.

"That's right." Shikamaru nodded. "It'd be best to go and take a good look as soon as possible."

 _Huh?_

"It's still pretty early, so even going today would work, right?"

"Yeah. It'd probably be best to do that."

 _Wha?_

"Then," Chouji said, "I'm going to head off to eat some sweet chestnuts, so you two should go check it out."

"Eh?!" Shikamaru and Temari both exclaimed at the same time.

To her surprise, Shikamaru looked at his friend in a flustered manner,"Cho- Chouji…! What do you mean you're not coming with…?!"

"Mmm, sorry Shikamaru. I have to eat dessert after meals."

"You just ate!"

"I have separate room for dessert."

"I'm telling you, you just ate dessert!"

As the men continued talking Temari could find the blush rising to her cheeks as she resumed panicking. Suddenly the stakes had risen to a place she couldn't even imagine anymore.

The chubby man grinned, "You're checking it out for a honeymoon, so it'd be better if you two went by yourselves."

"Well then, I'll see you two later." Chouji said, starting to walk. "I'm heading off."

With that he gave a wave and disappeared into the crowd.

When he left a strange silence descended upon them both and Temari could feel the tension in the air. Even though the streets of Konoha was as alive with frantic activity as always, it was as if they were locked in a world of their own.

Temari took this time to think hard, letting the millions of thoughts race through her head.

It was true that they had been dating a while now and Shikamaru had become much bolder than before, but she didn't think it was to this extent. Temari knew what a hot spring trip between couples meant, only an idiot wouldn't see the connotations.

And Shikamaru was meant to be a genius.

Even so something felt...off.

 _Why is he so casual about this?_

It was as if he had plenty of experience in inviting girls to the hot springs. Which made no sense because Temari was quite certain that she definitely had more experience when it comes to dating and relationships.

She then remembered all the times that Shikamaru had been surprisingly forward since they had started dating. It wasn't anything too scandalous, an occasional hand hold here, an odd kiss there. She had done it before with other guys, but this was _Shikamaru_ they were talking about. You didn't expect that from a guy once so lazy that he only left bed at the risk of certain death. The kunoichi wondered if this was a natural progression from that.

It wasn't as if she _didn't_ want to.

They _had_ been dating a while.

It's not as if she had _no_ experience with a guy before.

But...well...she had expected things to go slower with Shikamaru.

A _lot_ slower.

It wouldn't be a lie to say that Temari was a little bit nervous right now. Being one of the most powerful kunoichi in the world was all well and good, but looking at honeymoon venues with a guy you really like is a nerve wracking concept.

Especially when the more or less innocent looking younger boyfriend appeared to think this was all expected.

"Uh…" Shikamaru finally spoke, "How should I…what do you want to do…?"

Temari wasn't even sure about what she was thinking of when her hand had tugged onto her boyfriend's elbow.

"…I'll go." She quietly said, not looking at him.

On the way to Konoha's hot spring town, they hadn't talked much. Temari couldn't deal with Shikamaru's small talk at the moment and the atmosphere was unsettling.

They were silent as they passed a river steaming with the smell of sulphuric water from the hot springs. From what Shikamaru had told her this was a popular healing spot for injured shinobi in the past and had only been transformed into a tourist area recently for all kinds of people.

They moved through the small crowds of people clothed in yukata and in wooden or leather sandals. Temari had rarely worn geta wooden sandals before, they were far too loud for her job. It was a pretty little town with a selection of restaurants, game centres, souvenir shops, and various other shops in addition to the hot springs. The perfect kind of place for a short visit.

They had arrived in the late afternoon and the sun was already setting, and in a relatively short time darkness descended. The lanterns in front of the stores and buildings lit up one by one, illuminating the town with an enchanting red glow. It was a breathtaking sight, as if they were transported to a different world.

Temari murmured to herself quietly "It looks amazing…"

For a moment she was entranced, all other thoughts forgotten for a moment in the soft lights.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru quietly agreed. Then, he turned to her. "…Hey, we took all the trouble to come here, so how about we drop by the town shops?"

 _It would be a shame to come all the way over here and do nothing._

"You're right." Temari agreed, looking around. "Then…how about that shop?"

She pointed at a shop with a sign that said 'target practice' at the front, there were drawings illustrating the types of prizes that could be won drawn on it.

It reminded her of a moment in her childhood, when she had passed a stall much like it in a town on her way to a mission. Temari had scoffed at the child who had walked out beaming with a toy he had won. She was a child herself then, but Temari remembered finding it all rather silly. She had watched the boy's parents pat his head and had sneered a little when Kankuro 'accidentally' walked into the kid and knocked him over, before stepping onto the toy casually.

It was a long time ago.

She was probably jealous.

Temari broke from her thoughts when Shikamaru asked, "You sure you're fine with that?"

"Yeah. I wanted to try this kind of thing just once."

With that the Sunan ducked under the wooden sign in front of the shop's entrance, and walked into a surprisingly crowded floor area. They played for a while, trying to work out the winning strategy with the extremely light kunai. Without realising it Temari found herself enjoying the game tremendously, this often happened when she was with Shikamaru, and she walked out quite happily holding onto a small daruma, and another equally small cat figurine that Shikamaru had won for her. It was entertaining watching Shikamaru try to figure out a way to win the big prizes before conceding.

"Sorry…" He said to Temari, "I couldn't get anything other than those…"

"Heh, they're the perfect size for carrying back home." Temari replied with a grin, showing pearly teeth.

She continued, "These'll be great souvenirs for my brothers."

 _The daruma for Kankuro, the cat for Gaara,_ Temari smiled as she remembered once the sight of her youngest brother sitting peacefully like a buddha. His eyes shining as kittens made their home in his lap, on his shoulders and on his head. The kunoichi hummed a long forgotten tune underneath her breath.

"Alright then…we should get around to picking an inn, right?" Shikamaru said. "Oh, how about here?"

 _Huh?_

Instantly Temari snapped back to the current situation, at the purpose of this visit and her usually reliable brain blanked on her.

Shikamaru had come to a standstill, looking up at a beautiful inn. It was admittedly a magnificant structure and Shickamaru quickly, to Temari's shock, nodded and said, "Yup, best to go in and have a look."

 _Wait, this is too-!_

Her footsteps stopped.

"What's wrong?" Her boyfriend looked over his shoulder at her.

Temari fidgeted with her toys, cursing herself for letting her guard down, "Ah– well– after all– how to say this…" She began eloquently.

"So it's just– at the end– I'm not yet– I'm not mentally prepared…"

 _My God I'm like a girl on her first date…_

"Temari, for now how about we just go in, and then you can think about it. Okay?"

She stared in shock at him.

 _Is that the type of thing he would say!? Was Shikamaru always like this?_

"I– it'll be too late to think about once we go in. I could get carried away with the atmosphere, so…"

She was never like this with any of her exes, but then they weren't Shikamaru with his tendency to shock her out of the blue.

The Konohan looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Her face was turning redder as she turned her gaze away from him.

It's not like she didn't want to…but-!

"You…" Shikamaru slowly said. "Don't tell me you…"

Temari let out a startled sound as she felt his cool hand on her forehead and her body froze up at the touch.

"You're burning up, aren't you?" He asked.

 _Well…yes! Because you-!_

"I– I'm heading home, so…" She managed to stiffly say and moved back away from his touch.

"Oi, oi, do me a favour and wait. It's already dark out, and if your physical condition is bad then that's all the more reason you should rest here for just one night. It's alright. I'll quickly set out the futon for you."

 _!_

Without thinking and acting purely on reflex Temari turned around smartly and sprinted away using her full power.

 _I'm not running away_ , she said to herself, _I just have somewhere to be! To think!_

Temari focussed on the feeling of her muscles stretching and contracting, her heart pumping blood around her body and the feeling of the wind on her face.

 _Just breathe and run, breathe and run._

Temari was very good at running, it was pretty much a prerequisite to being a ninja. As a result this meant that it was easy for shinobi to think whilst running at full pelt.

 _You like him. Yes this is quicker than you thought it would be, but you like him!_

Unfortunately Shikamaru was quite good at running as well and she could hear the sound of him in the distance.

Temari thought of the electricity that she had felt when they held hands, the sweetness of their kisses and the respect and trust that she felt for this man.

She slowed down her pace.

Immediately Shikamaru grabbed her by the arm as he shouted, "Please just wait! I need you!"

Her eyes were stinging from the wind as she turned to him, they were both panting and totally out of breath. The dim light of nearby lanterns illuminated their faces slightly.

Shikamaru gazed at her, his eyes…entranced.

"Is it really alright…if it's me…?" Temari quietly asked.

"Yeah, it won't do if it's not you!" He said seriously

She gazed into his eyes, wondering…

"After all, I can't go into the women's side of the hot spring!"

 _…_

 _…_

 _What?_

"…ha?" For a brief moment, Temari's jaw dropped. "Uhm…? What are you…saying…?"

 _Women's side of the hot spring?_

"No matter how you look at it, I won't be able to go to the women's side of the hot springs, right?"

 _Why does he…?_

"Obviously!" She replied, "What are you suddenly…"

Shikamaru stared at her as he said in a reasonable tone, "I can't go into the women's side. Since I'm a man. So I need you to go to the women's side. Since you can go in. Like you said, it's obvious."

Temari merely stared at him.

He continued, "When you come out of the women's side, I need you to tell me the state it's in, just in a few words. That's all that's needed. Okay? It's a really simple thing to do, right?"

 _What is going on?_

Temari felt curiously calm now, suddenly everything that didn't quite feel right that day made sense.

 _Of course this doesn't make sense for Shikamaru. Something else is going on._

"What exactly…are you talking about…?" Temari asked simply.

"To begin with," She began again, "What, exactly, are we talking about?"

"What do you mean what?" Shikamaru asked. "We're talking about selecting an inn for a honeymoon for a wedding, aren't we?"

Temari closed her eyes briefly and breathed in.

 _No wonder we are in this mess…_

"Exactly whose wedding?" She asked slowly and carefully.

Her boyfriend answered innocently, "Naruto and Hinata's, obviously. Huh? Didn't I tell you that? That's odd…"

The Sunan stared at Shikamaru in silence.

…

 _…This man…is an idiot._

Temari smiled peacefully and said in a cheerful voice, "Hmm, so that's what it all was…."

"No, hold on…Ah!" it finally dawned on Shikamaru at what he had done.

 _What did he think would happen? Suddenly springing talk on his girlfriend about honeymoons? And about laying out futons? And saying he needs me?_

He stared at her uneasily, "Hey, oi …You couldn't have thought that, right."

Temari merely took her tessen off her back and hefted its weight in her hands thoughtfully.

"H-hey…what is it?" He asked. "Why're you suddenly taking that out…? Wh- what's up with your chakra…?!"

Temari grinned affectionately at him, she felt fully in control again and relished the sensation.

Shikamaru looked confused at the sight, but he smiled back at her as well.

They were the very image of smitten lovers.

Well…until the moment she blew him into the air with her tessen anyway.

* * *

 **Well that's the Hiden novels done. Woo that was quick. I took a lot of...umm...the same stuff from the translated novels though. So I'm not too pleased with this really, doesn't feel like my work much.**

 **Oh well. The next chapter is completely original. And diabetes inducing.**


	37. Chapter 37 - His Confession

"I'm not going in there."

Temari said this firmly as she stubbornly stood on the spot.

"Why not?" The shinobi asked, "Come on!"

He indicated in front of him towards the forest of trees as he turned back towards her, hands in his pockets.

"There are rules. Only your clan members are allowed in." The kunoichi replied. She gave him a pointed look, "If we don't follow the rules, then who will?"

"I'm the clan head," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "I give you express permission to enter, come over here already."

He took her hand, it had become second nature to do so when they were alone, and gave it a tug. As expected Temari barely budged.

"Temari, I've let Chouji and Ino in here before, it's fine."

"They have close links to your family."

"We let people in to look after the deer and a specialist doctor from the water village comes every year for check ups."

This did the trick, Temari might be as stubborn as a bull, but she certainly thought herself closer to Shikamaru than a random doctor. She let herself be pulled towards the leafy foliage by the Konohan.

Shikamaru smiled as he grasped her hand closer towards himself until they were walking side by side.

He hadn't mentioned to his girlfriend that he had last let Ino and Chouji into the forest when they were kids, nor that the doctor and others were actually branch family members.

They came to a clearing shaded with trees and dotted with sunshine, the air was filled with the sounds of nature. There was a large broken tree trunk in the middle of the clearing and he pulled Temari towards it.

"Wait a bit while I call them." He said.

"Don't." The kunoichi protested, "Seriously, animals don't like me. I might have agreed to come in but I am _not_ going to pet any animals."

"I like you, so they'll behave." He said encouragingly.

She glared at him then, "I'm not worried about what _they_ will do to _me_ , I'm worried about what I might do to _them_ if they start attacking."

"They're my clan's deer, they're smart enough to not have a death wish." Shikamaru retorted, "Also, I never knew you were scared of animals."

"I am NOT scared." She said hotly, "It's just...animals get skittish around me and I have strong reflexes."

Shikamaru let a slow grin spread on his face, "You're nervous." He said in realisation, "You _want_ them to like you."

"Don't be ridiculous! I just don't want to be known in your clan as the foreigner who accidentally punched the family deer!"

"You're probably the type who gets so nervous around animals that you tense up," Shikamaru said, "of course that will put them on their guard."

He held onto Temari's shoulders, "Just relax."

The Sunan frowned at him, "You do enough relaxing for a whole nation." But he felt her shoulders loosen slightly.

"It'll be fine." With that Shikamaru put two fingers to his lips and gave a high pitched whistle. After a moment of silence he heard the sound of hooves hitting the forest floor towards them.

The couple watched as a small herd of deer peeped out of the surrounding trees, great beautiful creatures of all sizes and with intelligent eyes.

"That's just a faction of the main herd, the young aren't here." the Konohan explained, "You see the one with the biggest antlers and a scar down his eye? He's the leader."

The stag in question looked majestic, he stood taller than Temari and had smooth, tanned fur which accentuated his sharp, dark eyes. He went towards them regally, as if they were subjects who had entered his court. Shikamaru grinned and reached out to the creature, "How are you doing?" He murmured, "The kids behaving?", the leader allowed this blatant abuse of power graciously and nuzzled his fingers. It was obvious to any onlooker that they had known each other for a while. At the same time the animal kept a curious eye on the kunoichi all the while.

"What's his name?" Temari hadn't taken her eyes away from the creature and her voice was soft.

"Same as mine," Shikamaru replied, "We were born on the same day, practically grew up together. Go on." he urged, "Touch him."

The Sunan lifted a hesitant hand towards the animal and gave a careful stroke along its neck. The stag didn't react, but then he didn't move away either. Shikamaru couldn't prevent himself from smiling.

"He likes you." the shinobi said.

"He's tolerating me."

"No, he likes you, he doesn't just let anyone touch him, usually just me and my parents."

"Then why isn't he reacting?"

"He's a lazy one."

Temari snorted, "You have no right saying that."

The kunoichi stroked the animal's fur a few more times in silence and Shikamaru couldn't help but feel relieved. He never doubted it, but it was still gratifying to see Temari being accepted by the herd. It wasn't a be all and end all if she wasn't, but...it was nice.

Suddenly Temari spoke up, "It was a lie wasn't it? You don't just bring anyone here."

Shikamaru knew he had been caught.

"It wasn't a lie," he began before admitting, "but outsiders don't come here often, no."

"How did you know that I lied?" he was genuinely curious.

Temari scoffed at him in reply, "I can always tell in the end. It's you after all."

They had been together a while, two years by now.

As if sensing that his role was finished for the day, the deer moved away from the kunoichi's hands and wandered back towards his family.

Temari gestured towards the space next to her and Shikamaru walked over and sat down. he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, wondering at her expression.

The Sunan didn't seem angry, instead her eyes were questioning as she asked,"Why did you want me to come?"

It was a good question and he was still in the process of finding the answer.

"Remember a while back I asked you something?"

She looked sceptical at the change in conversation, "You ask a lot of questions."

"About whether you would kill me if you needed to?"

Silence.

"I need to know...has that changed?"

Temari barely paused as she replied, "It was a stupid question."

"Well?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because mine hasn't."

Shikamaru remembered how he wasn't surprised at her answer a year ago, but nevertheless was upset at it. However a lot had changed in that time, he most certainly had.

"So has your answer changed? Would you kill me?"

He stared into her eyes and the indecision in them gave him hope.

Temari gave a hesitant answer, seemingly confused at her own words, "I...don't know."

Shikamaru smiled, he couldn't help it.

"I'll take that as a no."

Temari quickly said, "No, I really don't know!" she then looked away, "Maybe! It depends!"

"Then I take it as a maybe, still an improvement."

"Don't just say whatever you want! Why are you even asking this kind of stuff!?"

 _She's cute when she's flustered._

Shikamaru turned her cheek towards him.

"Because I love you."

Silence suddenly descended in the forest. He couldn't hear nor notice anything except for Temari's striking teal eyes. It was as if he was drowning in them.

"...What?" Temari didn't seem aware that she had spoken.

"I love you."

Three little words that he had held inside for weeks, that finally put out into the open the depth of everything that he had felt about her. These words were the reason that he wanted her to meet his family more often, why he felt strangely restless when she wasn't around and why he needed to bring her into this forest. Temari looked completely shocked.

"Love. L-O-V-E. I love you, Temari." Shikamaru said, every iteration of the word coming out more naturally than the last (why did it take so long to say it?)

He continued, "You know that troublesome feeling that makes people feel a little sick in the stomach?"

The shinobi then took her unresisting hand.

"I've got it every time I look at you and it's getting worse."

He looked for any sign of a reaction from the Sunan apart from shock, the Konohan was quietly hopeful.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

"No, I must have mistaken you for some other Sunan kunoichi that I'm dating."

Shikamaru frowned and held her hand closer to him.

"Yes, of course I'm sure."

There was silence for a while.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Shikamaru pressed her fingers to his lips.

"Because we've been together for two years." he said."Because in that time I've noticed that the way you've looked at me has changed a little."

His next words felt like he was taking a flying leap across a canyon. This was the first time that Shikamaru didn't have a plan B in place.

"Because I think you love me too."

To his relief his gamble paid off, for Temari had that beautiful soft look in her eyes.

"You're very cocky." she said disapprovingly.

"Am I right?" he wanted to hear her say it out loud.

The kunoichi didn't reply, instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips onto his. Shikamaru leaned into the kiss in a relieved fashion until she pulled away.

"What do you think?" she gave him that grin that he loved so much, that had the ability to brighten the darkest days.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean." he replied innocently.

Temari rolled her eyes and grabbed his shirt, this time the kiss was harder but no less sweet.

"Well?" she demanded, pulling away again.

"Nope, still not getting it."

"Aren't you meant to be a genius?" her tone of voice was teasing and playful.

Shikamaru gave a huge smile,"I guess I'm just slow today."

They laughed then, before continuing their kisses under the dappled sunlight and the cooling shade of the trees.

* * *

 **Umm...I usually don't write such...fluffy...stuff. I frankly find it quite embarrassing. Hopefully it's not too diabetes inducing, I've tried to add some attitude to it (at least that's what I'm calling it anyway). I am infinitely more comfortable with writing sarcastic banter and individuals with barely repressed feelings.**

 **I think it really shows that I am new at this sort of thing because imo the couple are the most OOC yet here. What do you think?**


	38. Chapter 38 - Her Confession

Temari tapped her feet impatiently as she waited at the veranda of the tea house. Shikamaru had said that he would be there approximately a quarter of an hour ago and it was unlike him to be late for a date. He knew she hated tardiness.

"Hey, waiting for Shikamaru?"

She turned and saw Kiba sitting himself down next to her.

"Hey Kiba." The kunoichi greeted him, "Yeah, he's late."

"Mind if I join you?"

"You've already sat down." She pointed out.

He laughed, a great barking laugh very similar to Akamaru, who was noticeably missing from his side.

"Where's Akamaru?" Temari asked, she had trained herself to stop calling Kiba's canine "The dog."

"He's at the vets, I can't stand that face he pulls when he thinks I've betrayed him, so I've gone for a walk." Kiba grimaced to himself and scratched at a bite mark on his arm.

Temari glanced at his arm with little sympathy, she knew the shinobi had likely lied to his dog in order to trick him into going to the vets.

"You deserved that." She said and asked, "but apart from that how have you been?"

Kiba laughed again, by now everyone in the village was used to Temari's bluntness. In all honesty Temari liked Kiba, the Konohan wasn't the smartest tool in the shed but she appreciated that he spoke honestly and envied the way he generally did whatever he wanted, consequences be damned. He reminded her a little of Kankuro.

"Same old, busy. You?"

"Busy. Too busy for this."

The shinobi asked, "How long have you waited? I can practically smell your impatience from a room away."

Temari replied, "15 minutes or so. You really shouldn't tell people stuff like that, they could get the wrong idea."

"I don't give a damn what other people think." Kiba gave another short bark of laughter.

She couldn't help but smile, "Ha! I guess not."

The younger man looked behind him as he commented, "It's not like him, you usually have him whipped."

"I don't have him be anything." she replied, frowning.

"That's the scary thing, he does it automatically. I'm actually impressed."

Kiba turned back towards her then and gave a wide grin.

"I wouldn't let any woman have so much control over me."

Temari smirked, "That sounds like a challenge."

There was a moment when the Konohan had an indecipherable look on his face before he casually asked,

"Wanna take it?"

Temari raised an eyebrow, Kiba merely grinned back at her wolfishly.

"Are you flirting with me?" She asked, a little surprised.

The canine shinobi caught her gaze straight on, "What if I am?" He challenged.

The kunoichi was more confused than anything else, it was true that Kiba was a wildcard character who did whatever the hell he liked, but was he this disloyal?

There was a pause before he broke his poker face.

"Ha! Just kiddi-"

Suddenly a hand landed on Kiba's shoulder and Shikamaru appeared between the two of them.

"Hey Kiba, what are you doing here?" The shadow shinobi asked casually, his hand didn't leave the other man's shoulder.

Shikamaru then sat down between them and slipped his other hand around Temari's naturally, almost as if it was an afterthought. The Sunan rolled her eyes.

 _Idiots_.

"I was just saying hi, the look on your face is hilarious!" Kiba cheerfully if firmly removed Shikamaru's hand from his shoulder.

"I think you should get out of here." The shadow shinobi smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Well Temari, I better go before your boyfriend pops a vessel, it's good seeing you."

She replied somewhat suspiciously, "Right."

Kiba smiled, waved and slipped away into the trees that the tea house faced. Shikamaru adjusted his position to sit more comfortably and his hand stayed tightly bound around hers.

There was a pregnant pause as Temari felt the tenseness in her boyfriend's arm.

"Stop it." She said simply.

"Stop what?"

She turned and gave him a disapproving look.

"Stop being jealous."

"Jealous?" He retorted.

"You've known him all your life, you know not to take his jokes seriously."

"I don't think he's just joking. All jokes come from some truth."

She dismissed this easily, "Then it was a tiny bit of truth that doesn't matter."

It felt extremely off that Kiba would flirt with her, they had known each other long enough that it made little sense, even if it were true. Something about the exchange didn't quite ring true.

"Shikamaru, even if he had a bit of a crush on me, so what?" Temari argued as she saw that he was not letting it go.

"He's your friend and I-" She was about to say the next word when Temari found her throat dry up.

"I like you." She finished finally.

"Tch."

Temari whipped her head around at the sound.

 _Did he just...kiss his teeth?_

There was a look of deep disappointment on Shikamaru's face that momentarily threw her off kilter. Temari felt her bullshit radar ringing.

"What was that?" She asked him, her voice dangerously ice cool.

Shikamaru muttered, "After all this time you still wouldn't say the word."

"What word?"

"You know the one."

Suddenly everything made sense.

 _No wonder something felt wrong._

Temari could feel her temper rising within her and growled to herself, "So that was all staged, huh." She shook Shikamaru's arm off.

She then glared towards the trees and shouted, "Kiba! I know you're eavesdropping. Get over here right now!"

There was rustling in the branches before out popped Kiba and Akamaru's heads framed by the leaves. They shuffled over until they were standing in front of her, heads down.

 _So the vet was a lie, he was worried about the dog's lack of a poker face._

"What's up?" He asked, trying and failing to hide the gulp in his mouth.

"How much did he pay you?"

Kiba tried gamely to lie, "I don't get what-"

"How much?"

Faced with her glare the shinobi admitted, "...A month's supply of doggy snacks and a ticket to a pet hotel for the weekend."

"Right. Next time you agree to anything like this, I will break your legs. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'm."

As Kiba trotted away quickly he called out to Shikamaru,

"She _is_ a fiery one! I can see why you like her!"

Shikamaru merely scowled, "Get out of here, Kiba."

"Fine, fine, have fun in the doghouse!"

When she was sure that they were finally alone, Temari sighed and turned to her boyfriend, "What was that little show all about? What's wrong, Shikamaru?"

He replied simply, "You've never said it."

Temari wondered briefly if she could continue playing the fool a little longer, but decided against it at the sulky look on Shikamaru's face.

She muttered instead, "It's just a word."

Temari didn't know why she felt the need to justify herself so much.

"You know how I feel."

To her surprise Shikamaru sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders,"That's what I thought too, that it's just a word, until now."

He looked her in the eye, his face defiant.

"It's a pain, but sometimes I want to hear it too."

She could only turn away self consciously, "I'm sure I must have said it at some point."

"Never happened." The shinobi bluntly replied, "You have trouble with that word."

"I-" Temari wasn't sure what she was going to say before Shikamaru interrupted her.

"Why?"

The Sunan grappled for the right words before uttering,

"I...have never used it."

"What? Never?" he looked surprised.

"It's not something people say all the time is it?" she protested, embarrassed, "I don't get how easy it is for you."

"Sure people say it all the time, I love cloud watching, I love Konoha-"

"You do not say it that often!"

"I love you."

"..."

A shit eating grin slowly began spreading on Shikamaru's face.

"What!?" she asked hotly.

"You're cute when you blush."

"What? I'm not blushing!" Temari could feel the heat spreading as she said that.

"You're completely red. Like a tomato."

"I am not a tomato. You...ass!"

"How original. Come on Temari."

"What?"

"Say it."

"What? No! You can't tell someone to say it!"

"I love you?"

"Stop that!"

Temari punched Shikamaru in the shoulder and seemed to relax her whole body into him as she did so.

"When did you get so cocky?" She murmured into his chest, exasperated, "You weren't like this when we started dating..."

"You weren't this shy either," he retorted, "I guess we're just good influences on each other."

"I am not shy!"

"Right. Sure."

"You..."

Temari laughed, seemingly half in disbelief,

"...Idiot."

The next words came out naturally,

"I love you, you fool."

Shikamaru grinned.

"I can't hear you. What did you say?"

She promptly replied, "I like you."

"Tch."

She laughed again and entwined her hand into his, Shikamaru couldn't help but smile as he bent down to kiss her.

* * *

 **Well that was cute I guess. I dunno...I think there's enough fluff for now and it's awkwardly written. Let's move this story along! Dum dee dum...**


	39. Chapter 39 - His Proposal

"Let's get married."

He said one day as she was pondering her next move on the Shogi board, her hand on her chin in concentration. They were sitting in his veranda with the pleasant spring breeze in the air, and he had asked her the question in the manner of requesting tea.

The Shogi piece in Temari's other hand paused momentarily in mid air, before landing on the board.

"No." She replied without even looking up, "Propose properly."

Shikamaru frowned slightly, He wasn't too annoyed though, the shinobi hadn't planned on proposing to her in this way in the first place.

 _Of course she wouldn't accept,_ he thought to himself, _it's not something you can decide half heartedly._

He himself had spent the past few months thinking about marriage ever since Naruto's wedding. There was something about the look of utter adoration on the happy couple's faces that made him think that perhaps the whole thing wasn't a complete pain in the neck. He had glanced at Temari then, and found her eyes looking softer than usual with a hint of a smile on her lips. That made him think even harder.

Shikamaru watched Temari even more closely after that, asking carefully veiled questions about her thoughts on dating him and on Konoha and seeing how she interacted with the villagers. He was hopeful with what he had seen, Temari was always adaptable and she seemed to like him well enough. She was dating him after all.

There was little doubt in his mind that if marriage were to work she would live in Konoha, but he spent a few weeks in Sunagakure for research purposes anyway. Shikamaru couldn't really imagine marrying any other woman, so she was worth considering moving for. Even if his position meant this could only ever be a thought exercise. In a way Temari had made him a hopeless romantic.

Next he poured over books for days reading up on everything he could find on inter village relations, history and laws. When he had first asked her out he hadn't thought that far ahead, all he knew was that he couldn't just let her walk off. So it was only now that he fully appreciated the complications in dating the sister of a Kazekage, who also lived three days away.

He was relieved to find that being the head of a respectable clan, a renowned Jounin, a war hero and coming from a friendly village apparently meant that him marrying Temari wouldn't be completely unthinkable. Just difficult. And Shikamaru could do difficult for her.

He had half planned out the proposal itself by now, but there was something about the pleasant atmosphere, the smell of fresh blossoms and the sight of Temari sitting in his house playing Shogi that had caused the words to slip out of his mouth prematurely.

So all in all her reaction wasn't too unexpected.

 _Still..._

Shikamaru frowned at the board in front of him, she had made a particularly tricky move.

... _she didn't have to be so quick at rejecting it_

That was the first time Temari won a game of Shogi against the shinobi, and the first rejection.

The second time he proposed they were sitting in their favourite restaurant. He had purposely booked the whole place out and had meticulously planned out the menu to consist of not only her favourite dishes there, but also some Sunan recipes he had personally sourced the rare ingredients for.

Shikamaru had chosen the moment when her eyes had lit up at the taste of the sweet chestnut dessert, before slipping down on one knee and proffering the simple ring. He was quietly confident.

She had smiled sweetly at him, with a hint of feelings in her eyes, before stuffing her half finished spoonful of dessert in his mouth.

"You have to ask my brothers first." the Sunan replied, her eyes twinkling.

Shikamaru had finished the offered dessert and scratched his neck sheepishly. He was hoping to deal with the brothers later and was a little annoyed at the second rejection.

 _Couldn't she just agree first?_

But the dessert did taste delicious, it was a very pleasant evening thus far and Temari looked stunning in her outfit with that beautiful grin. So Shikamaru put the ring away, they finished the meal and spent a nice evening strolling in the village and watching the full moon.

That was the fifth time that Temari had ever surprised him with a kiss, and the second rejection.

The third time he proposed was in Sunagakure. He had mustered up the nerve to knock on the Kazekage's door just the night before and after a vaguely threatening, vaguely congratulatory conversation, had secured his blessing.

(" _Oh by the way," said the red headed youth as Shikamaru was just leaving, "I just forgot to say one thing." The leaf shinobi turned to him, "Your life is forfeited should you hurt her." It was a statement rather than a threat.)_

Hewas lying on the palace roof with Temari next to him, looking at the stars when he got her to stand up and once again, on his knees, offered the same ring to her.

Her eyes had a beautifully soft depth to them and he thought he saw her hand shake for a microsecond.

But then she just gave that by now infuriating smile and closed his hands tenderly over the ring.

She said, "Both my brothers, Shikamaru."

He had admittedly sulked a little that night and it took quite a bit of attention from Temari before all was well again. The third time he was rejected was the first time Temari truly acted a little cute with him.

The fourth time he proposed Shikamaru had a broken leg.

The shinobi had been forced into a duel with Kankuro (" _How can I even trust a guy with Temari who couldn't beat me?" The purple faced youth had scoffed_ ) and throughout the whole troublesome affair Shikamaru had cursed the sand people for being so damn _difficult_. And _stubborn_. And crazy stupid _strong_.

When he had finally managed to somehow immobilise the man (after stopping every one of his damn puppets) he had immediately limped to Temari's inn room, barged in unannounced and placed the ring on the table in front of the surprised kunoichi.

"Now will you marry me, woman?" He asked romantically. His leg was killing him.

Temari looked up in surprise from her paperwork and immediately caught sight of his injury.

"Did Kankuro do this?" She uttered, before getting up and making to leave the room "You stay here, I'll get a medic-"

Shikamaru grabbed her arm before she could go (the hell he was letting her get away this time.) "That can wait," he said and repeated, "Will you marry me?"

Temari immediately shook him off impatiently, "Now's not the time for that, I'm getting a medic." She said, already at the door.

The kunoichi found she couldn't move.

Temari turned around against her will and saw the connected shadows between herself and the youth in front of her; his fingers in the familiar jutsu position. It was nostalgic, he hadn't used the shadow bind technique against her for years. Except this time the feelings were very different, Shikamaru was far from cool and collected, he was downright _angry_.

Temari growled, "Shikamaru, stop messing around."

He kept the jutsu going; he had the ability to make it last for a long time if needed now. "Not until you answer my proposal." he said stubbornly.

The shinobi leaned on to the table to take some pressure off his leg and Temari copied the movement at the door.

"You're being childish," She grumbled, "how do you expect any woman to marry you when you act like this?"

"Who's the one being childish?" He retorted, "Any ordinary woman would have a response by now!"

"So I'm just any ordinary woman now am I?" She said, irritation rising sharply in her throat. "Well excuse me for not wanting to be proposed to by a man who had just minutes ago beaten up my little brother!"

"He asked for it! Literally!" Shikamaru shouted, "And he broke my leg! All because some crazy woman wanted me to ask for the permission of every citizen of Sunagakure before even considering marrying me!"

"Oh grow up!" shouted Temari right back, "They're my only family left and you can't even deal with getting their blessing without resorting to violence?!"

And they stood there, chests heaving, eyes glaring at each other.

 _This wasn't how it was supposed to go._

Shikamaru drew a deep breath, forced himself to calm down and fell into his thinking pose. He hadn't used it in a while since he hadn't the time and it wasn't strictly necessary, but it helped in this moment.

He felt his brain shift into gear and his thoughts racing at the speed of light.

 _Something's wrong, this isn't like her._

Shikamaru thought back to the past few months, every conversation that he had with Temari, every rejected proposal...he then opened his eyes.

"Were you ever going to say yes?" He asked quietly.

"What kind of ridiculous question is that!?" Temari spluttered, but he could see the flash of guilt in her eyes and knew he was on the right track.

"I've been thinking, and something just doesn't add up." He said slowly, "You're not the type of person to go into a relationship with no future."

He paused, "And I know you love me."

"Are you sure about that right now?" The Sunan muttered under her breath, "Because I'm this close to snapping your neck right now." But he could see she was sweating slightly.

"So you must have expected this at some point." Shikamaru ignored her threat, "And yet you rejected me with excuses."

"They were not excuses-"

"Excuses." He said firmly, "Stuff that usually doesn't bother you, or that could be dealt with later. Together."

Temari was silent then, watching him.

"I thought it was strange at the time." The shinobi continued, "But I chalked it down to women behaving differently during proposals."

An unladylike snort of derision came from the kunoichi.

"Yeah, not my smartest moment, but how else could I explain it?" He lowered his tone, "So my conclusion is...you intend to be with me, just not marry me."

"Of course I was going to marry you!" Temari burst out, "Eventually!"

"Then why are you making it so difficult!?" Shikamaru found himself shouting again, "Why are you being so troublesome!?"

"BECAUSE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE!" shouted Temari, before her eyes widened at her own words.

 _It all comes out now..._

She looked conflicted for a moment, as if unsure of revealing her thoughts, before appearing to reach an internal conclusion.

The kunoichi sighed, "Undo the jutsu, Shikamaru." she said quietly. He obliged, his shadow slipping away from hers like an inky river.

Temari walked over to him. "At least sit down, you silly man." she muttered and pressed him down onto the closest seat before slipping into the chair opposite him. They were silent for a while.

"What do you mean by that?" He finally asked. Temari fidgeted a little, not looking him in the eyes.

"It's not meant to be easy." She said quietly, "Marrying you should be hard, it should be difficult."

Shikamaru was silent for a while, waiting for her to make sense.

"You're the head of your clan and tapped to be the chief advisor of the hokage." Temari continued, "My role in Sunagakure may be difficult to replace, but it is possible."

It was as if her eyes were looking far away, beyond the walls of the building.

"You aren't that familiar with Sunagakure, and I'm already used to this place for years."

She looked wistful, whilst her voice took on a rare dreamy tone.

"So if we were ever to marry, it only makes sense for me to move here. It's the only choice."

Suddenly her eyes were piercing through him and Temari became angry, passionate.

"But just because it's the only choice doesn't mean it should be _easy,_ I shouldn't be able tojust _leave_ without a care in the world."

She stood up and began pacing.

"I am Sunan, I was born in the hidden village of the sand and I am prepared to die for it. Always have."

Shikamaru almost jumped when she glared at him.

"Of course in this world I have to have chosen the most infuriating man I have ever met to be my partner, and from another village as well!"

Her eyes were accusing. _This is all your fault!_ theyseemed to say.

Shikamaru could only blink and shrug helplessly. He was a little in awe at the woman in front of him.

 _Like an angry goddess_ , he thought dazedly.

"But even if you are the man I have chosen, even if our villages are friendly, even if my brothers approve of you..."

She continued, pacing faster and faster, "Leaving should _hurt_. It should be as _painful_ as being stabbed, it should feel like _dying_. Leaving shouldn't be easy! It shouldn't be simple!"

She looked at Shikamaru, her eyes aflame, her cheeks red, "I have lived for Sunagakure and my brothers my whole life. I can't just let go of it all and be happy whilst doing it. Do you understand?"

Shikamaru looked at the woman in front of him. Looked at this kunoichi who had only ever lived for her duty and who loved her village and her brothers beyond all reason.

 _She had chosen him._

"I love you." He said simply, a little smile on his face.

She stared at him, "Were you listening? At all?"

"I have." He replied, "And I love you."

Shikamaru grimaced a little as he struggled to get down on his good leg. He took Temari's hand in his and could see that she was too shocked to react.

"Temari of the desert," he began, "You are the most troublesome and difficult woman I have ever met in my life."

She broke out of her surprise to glare daggers at him but remained silent.

"You are also the most passionate, the smartest and the most beautiful woman I have ever met." He continued, "And I wouldn't be half the man I am without you."

He saw a small blush spread from her ears to her face.

"This wasn't how I imagined my life to be," he said with feeling, "I never wanted an extraordinary woman for my partner in life."

Temari rolled her eyes, hiding a smile.

"But now that I have met you, I can't imagine anyone else that I desire more by my side." Shikamaru's voice softened. "I know what I'm asking for is selfish, that in choosing me you may feel like losing all that you hold dear. I know you will feel huge guilt in doing so." His leg suddenly gave him a shooting pain, "And that I'm a mere fool of a man with a broken leg." he grimaced.

Shikamaru pressed her fingers to his lips softly, "I can't promise that things won't be difficult and that I will never do something stupid to annoy you."

The shinobi looked up at her with a strong emotion in his eyes, "But I promise to keep your ties to Sunagakure alive with all my effort. I promise to strive to become the man who deserves you every single day and I promise to never ever let you regret your decision."

Shikamaru lifted the ring to Temari hopefully,

"So will you marry me?"

Her eyes were glistening.

"I never liked you when I first met you." She said, her voice shaking, "Your face was stupid, you were a lazy punk and the biggest crybaby ever."

He merely looked at her with a soft smile on his face.

"And you were so slow for a genius! You never even realised you liked me for years!"

He continued looking at her, his smile widening.

"I can't believe I fell for such a soft man! Just because you're a little smart!" She was in a full on rant mode now, "Why is it you? Why is-"

"I love you. Will you marry me?" Shikamaru simply repeated.

Temari opened her mouth and then closed it again. The Sunan seemed to be struggling with something, before she finally held onto his hand gently.

"Of course I will, you fool." She said quietly and with affection. Shikamaru grinned and pulled Temari towards him until their lips met. Suddenly Shikamaru's leg gave way and he fell backwards, dragging Temari with him as he fell on his back.

"Are you okay!?" She asked worriedly, but Shikamaru simply laughed and continued kissing her over and over again.

The day Temari accepted Shikamaru's proposal was the day the hospital took in the happiest patient in the world.

 **Happy Boxing Day everyone! Have a chapter on me!**

 **This is hands down my favourite chapter. Cute but not too sweet and with a touch of humour.**

 **I'm kind of hoping that this is the chapter that people will want to reread over and over again, if people will reread this story ofc.**

 **This was actually written like...months ago. Before the war chapters definitely. But it was way too early and so it just kind of languished on the shelf. For a moment I wasn't sure I would even get a chance to release it, so I'm happy that it saw the light of day. Any thoughts on it would be much appreciated!**


	40. Chapter 40 - His Visit

Shikamaru placed a basket of fruit on the bedside table, ignoring the disgruntled look that Temari was giving him.

"I'm fine." She argued, "I don't need fruit, I need exercise."

The shinobi merely bent down to give his hospitalised fiancé a quick peck on the lips.

"You've dislocated your shoulder and have barely spent half a day here." He pointed out, "Also, you wouldn't even be here if you had it checked straight away."

"Someone had just tried to assassinate my little brother, I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"They weren't aiming for him," He pointed out reasonably, "And your brother complex landed you here."

"Shikamaru, they're my only family, don't call it a brother complex."

"Sorry." Shikamaru sat down and held her hand, "It's just...your brothers are strong. Gaara had everything under control by the time I arrived."

He continued, "And from what I heard, Kankuro stopped the rebellion just fine. You don't need to worry so much about them."

She muttered impatiently, "But if I don't worry now..."

Temari didn't finish the sentence, but then she didn't need to.

 _If she didn't worry now, when can she do so when she marries me._

 _"_ We will visit often, you know." He said softly.

Temari murmured, "I know..." She sighed a little, "Kankuro should be fine...but Gaara is just so innocent sometimes."

Shikamaru blinked. It was still strange to him that a man who was capable of killing hundreds of people within seconds could be called innocent in any way.

"I really think he will be able to cope." He said firmly and with feeling.

She frowned at him, "Don't give me that look. Gaara may be the kazekage but he's...fragile in some ways. I'm his older sister, I need to look out for him."

"He's my age." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Don't remind me of that," the kunoichi groaned to herself with her hand to her face, "I've had enough of Kankuro calling me a cradle snatcher..."

Shikamaru laughed and nudged at Temari to give him room on the bed, she grumbled but complied and once he was comfortable he held the hand of her good arm entwined in his.

"Are you regretting it?" He teased, "Agreeing to marry me?"

She gave him a look, "Want me to break it off?" She asked seriously.

"I'm sorry." Shikamaru immediately backed off, "Please marry me."

She finally smiled then, giving a toothy grin, and the shinobi knew that all was well again.

"I'm sorry," Temari said, "I've always been...protective."

"Well..." She corrected herself, "We were all protective of each other. We are the last of our family left."

Shikamaru nodded. He didn't quite understand, because his clan was large enough that it wasn't unusual for him to bump into family members during any shopping trip. But he did know the fear of losing a loved one.

"You remember the time that Gaara got kidnapped?" The Sunan asked.

"I've heard about it, Naruto said he almost died."

"He did die." She corrected him, "For a while anyway."

Temari leaned closer into Shikamaru.

"What people didn't mention was that Kankuro was almost poisoned to death days before then," her voice was neutral, "For a while I thought that I would lose the both of them."

"Kankuro never mentioned that."

Temari gave a rueful smile, "He was embarrassed about it. Told me not to tell."

They were silent for a while and Shikamaru thought about how things would have been very different if the worse case scenario had occurred then. For one, they wouldn't be sitting together in this hospital bed right now. For another, knowing the Temari that he knew, she would have likely become the kazekage, and marrying her would have become a distant dream in another world. The Konohan squeezed her hand tighter.

"Let's visit at least twice a year." He promised, "I need to get to know my brothers better."

Temari's eyes were beautifully clear as she smiled at him, she leaned up for a kiss and Shikamaru bent down to-

"Behave yourself kids!" a loud voice announced as the door to the room swung open and Kankuro strode in, "We're in a hospital here!"

Immediately Temari grabbed a pear with her good arm and threw it towards her brother, the man merely caught it in his hand and took a bite.

"Thanks," he said, "I was feeling peckish."

"How long were you outside for?" She demanded as Shikamaru scrambled off the bed quickly.

Kankuro grinned, "Long enough."

"Right." Temari matter of factly picked up her tessen from the side of the bed and began opening it with one arm.

"Hey hey hey, you can't be too mad at me," her brother protested, a flash of fear in his eyes "Gaara was here as well!"

With that the youngest sand sibling popped his head around the door apologetically and walked in, an uncharacteristically embarrassed expression on his face.

"I'm sorry Temari, he wouldn't listen to me..." The kazekage apologised.

The Sunan immediately jumped out of bed and went to the redhead.

"Gaara! Are you okay?" She fussed and grabbed his face, turning it from side to side as she inspected him.

"Hey, what about me?" Complained Kankuro, "I was putting down the rebellion!"

"You can break a leg for all I care," Temari retorted, "Still mad at you for giving Gaara that stupid Ichi Ichi Paradise book to read."

Temari didn't catch the glance that Kankuro and her fiancé shared then.

Shikamaru looked away guiltily as the older man gave him a shark like grin, promising a future of many favours to come.

What was he supposed to do when his future brother in law and the damn kazekage himself asked for books explaining romantic love? He couldn't just say no!

Temari had absolutely flipped when she found out. Thankfully Kankuro had shouldered the blame since he had directly passed the book on, but it definitely wasn't from the goodness of his heart.

"I'm sure he had his reasons for doing that." The Konohan said somewhat awkwardly as he walked over to shake his future brother in laws' hands, "Anyways, since we are all here why don't we have a meal together?"

"Yes!" Temari immediately agreed, "I hate the smell of hospitals."

"No, you're staying until your arm heals completely and naturally." Shikamaru said firmly, "I'm thinking of takeaway."

"You're telling the kazekage to eat takeaway?" Kankuro laughed, "You're a brave one!"

"I know you guys do that anyway." Shikamaru smiled, "And Temari's a bigger priority than you guys. Sorry Gaara, no offence."

"None taken." replied the kazekage, his eyes showed the smallest sparkle of amusement, "I wouldn't expect any less."

"Hey punk," Kankuro placed an arm semi warningly around his shoulders, "You know I'm the older brother right? Shouldn't you be worried about upsetting me?"

"Oh stop it Kankuro," Temari pinched her brother's arm until he removed it from Shikamaru, "you already broke his leg, no more violence until after the wedding."

Shikamaru grinned in triumph at Kankuro until he fully registered her words, "Wait." He frowned, "So he can be as violent as he wants after the wedding?"

Temari turned her teal eyes, suddenly innocent looking, towards him. "But of course," she said seriously, "You have to be in one piece for the photos."

They laughed then (well...Gaara smiled) and the conversation flowed easily. Takeaway was ordered and eaten, jokes were exchanged, embarrassing stories shared. And when Shikamaru had to leave to return to his village he thought to himself that he had gained two very troublesome brothers, but that he didn't mind at all.

 **I do enjoy writing about the sand siblings, they are just so interesting to me. I'm not really sure if I should end this story on their wedding or actually go all the way to chapter 700 of the manga. I should technically go all the way to the end, but I'm not sure how long that would take and whether it's overkill. One thing is for sure, I don't think I can write another fanfiction on Shikatema again if I do continue to that end. I mean...this is already waaaayyy longer than I thought it would be...**


	41. Chapter 41 - Her Panic

Temari stood in front of the mirror, all clothed in white. Her face and hair were perfectly made up, her posture was immaculate and she was the very image of a beautiful bride.

And she was absolutely petrified.

 _It's fine. It's completely fine. You're a ninja for goodness sake._

It was strange. They had prepared for months for the wedding; debating for hours on the location, date and logistics. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that blood, sweat and tears were shed trying to get everyone to agree, and not always their blood, sweat and tears either.

And yet when the day had finally arrived...she found herself panicking a little.

 **Crack!**

The Sunan opened her palm and saw that the lipstick tube within was broken beyond repair. She threw it distractedly in the bin.

Fine. She was panicking a lot.

It started off well enough. Yoshino, Sakura and Ino helped her with the hair, make up and outfit. They chatted, there was bonding and the women repeatedly told her that all was well.

Repeatedly assured her that the venue hadn't caved in, that the weather would be beautiful all day and that Shikamaru had most certainly gotten up out of bed on time today if he knew what was good for him.

Temari had been completely made up how she liked for the event, was finally convinced that everything would go perfectly and had been left alone in the room...when she promptly lost her calm.

 _I'm actually doing this, this is definitely happening._

She stared into the mirror, willing the panic in her eyes to disappear.

 _Maybe we should postpone it._

Temari found herself staring at the open window to the side with a half serious, longing look.

 _If I leave through there, just 72 hours and I'll be back in Sunagakure. Kankuro and I could crack a beer open and hang out or something._

The idea was horribly and uncharacteristically tempting. Even though Kankuro wasn't currently in Sunagakure.

He was in Konoha.

For her wedding.

 _Shit! Just calm the hell down!_

"Hey Temari."

The kunoichi suddenly heard her fiance's voice coming from the screened doors and turned to see his silhouette outlined behind it.

"Don't come in!" She shouted, "you're not allowed to see me!"

"Relax, I'm not going to." Shikamaru's voice said quietly, "I'm just checking to see if you're all right. Mum said you seemed stressed."

"I'm fine!"

"Really?"

Temari breathed deeply,

"No," she admitted, "I'm freaking out."

Shikamaru was silent for a while and when he spoke up again his tone was soothing, "Come closer to the door Temari."

"I've told you, you're not coming in, it's not allowed."

"I'm not, look I'm sitting down."

She saw the silhouette shift in shape and descending until only the top of his head was seen against the screening.

"Come over, sit down."

Temari was sceptical, but she walked over and carefully sat down with her back to the sliding doors, directly behind Shikamaru.

"Why am I doing this?" She asked.

"What? Sitting down or the whole wedding?"

Temari paused, "Both." She said.

"Because you love me."

The kunoichi murmured, "Love doesn't solve everything."

"No," he replied, "but it helps."

She could hear him shift into a more comfortable position.

"It's because you chose me and I chose you." Shikamaru said matter of factly, "We make sense together, always did."

The kunoichi sighed, "Yes..." She agreed, "you're right."

Temari folded her knees up to her chest, "Shikamaru..."

"What is it?"

"I'm scared."

She couldn't imagine admitting this a year ago, but a lot had changed.

"What of?"

"I don't know." She admitted, "That's why I'm scared."

Temari pressed the back of her head to the door and stared upwards at nothing in particular.

"Preparing for the wedding was fine, it was something to work on." the kunoichi said, "But what happens next?"

Shikamaru stayed silent, waiting.

"I'm so used to travelling and working everywhere," she continued, "but I can't continue that lifestyle after this."

"It won't change too much," her fiancé insisted, "You're keeping your ambassadorial role, it's just that your main base is now in Konoha"

"But for how long?" Temari argued, "We're going to have at least one child remember? What happens then?"

He was silent at that. They had talked about children before and had agreed that they wanted at least one, but talking about theoretical children was easy when the event felt far away.

"Temari."

"What?"

"You asked why I want you to sit here?"

"Yeah?"

"This is why."

Temari then felt it, the silky touch of Shikamaru's shadows wrapping around her. The shadowy embrace held her lightly, soothingly.

She smiled softly, "That's cheating."

"I wanted to touch you," he replied, "and I'm not breaking any rules."

"I suppose not." Temari agreed. She relaxed into his shadow.

After a moment Shikamaru spoke again, "About kids...We're sharing responsibility over any children equally, remember?"

"Of course we are," she retorted, "that's not the issue."

"We are only going to try for one when you're completely ready," The shinobi then said, "It will be your choice."

"It's not even that..."

"Is it about giving birth affecting your ability to do missions later? Have you seen Kiba's mum? She's one of the scariest ninjas in the village."

"No I'm pretty sure I can still beat you up with my eyes closed even if I popped out 5 children."

He sounded a little confused then, "Then what is it?" he asked.

Temari struggled to articulate her thoughts, "I...don't think I will be a good mother."

She felt a shadow tendril shift over slightly to grip her hand in a comforting motion.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked simply.

The Sunan had always loved this about him, the fact that he didn't give platitudes, didn't try to make things better with empty words.

"I can't even remember my own mother," she muttered, "I didn't even want to."

Temari hadn't told him this before, hadn't told anyone.

"I don't understand, I thought you loved her?"

"Yes, I loved her. As much as a three year old can love anyone." she replied, "But...well, she died. And from then on father always had this...look on his face...whenever he saw me."

Temari inherited her mother's looks, almost since she was born. The Sunan was proud of this as a kid, was happy to be told of the resemblance...until her mother died. From then on it was as if her father wasn't looking at her anymore when their eyes met, as if he was seeing ghosts.

And she was not a ghost.

"I didn't like that, so I changed my hairstyle," she continued simply, "Kept it pretty much ever since."

Very few people had seen her with her hair down, Shikamaru being one of them. Her unusual hairstyle might have started off as a gut reaction to the looks people always gave her after the funeral, but in the end it just became a practical habit.

Shikamaru was silent, but she could feel her hand being squeezed tighter by his shadow. It was strange, she never usually liked being controlled by his jutsu, but Temari didn't mind this.

She knew that Shikamaru understood, Yoshino had sometimes given him similar looks; her eyes would temporarily glaze over and it was as if she wasn't quite in the room. Her fiancé embraced this though, he had wanted to be like Shikaku, worked hard to do his legacy proud.

"And now I barely remember how she was like. I don't even remember any other women in my life, there were only bodyguards." the kunoichi finished.

Shikamaru's tone of voice was reasonable and kind, "You don't need to be like your mother, you can't anyway. It's never a good idea to try and replace the dead."

"Are you going to tell me to just be myself?" She asked, "Shikamaru, I killed since I was like...6 or something. I'm not _nice_."

Temari closed her eyes and tried to make sense of the thoughts in her head, "Aren't mothers meant to be...I don't know...soft? I remembered mine was...I think."

To her surprise she heard Shikamaru chuckling behind her.

"What's so funny?" she asked, annoyed. This was meant to be a serious moment!

"You've met mum right? Would you say she was soft?"

"Sometimes she is!" protested Temari, "When you aren't being irritating!"

"And sometimes you are," replied the Konohan, "If you were just a scary woman who only knows how to be violent, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you."

"Don't pretend that you didn't find that attractive." she muttered to herself and her fiancé blithely ignored the comment.

"You're kind Temari," Shikamaru insisted, "You try to hide it, but you are."

He continued, "You're fair to people, too hard on yourself and you care. Everything you have done proves that you care."

"Caring about work is not the same as caring for a child."

"You've looked after your brothers for years, they've turned out fine."

"That's different, we had no choice. I relied on them as much as they relied on me."

"Temari, you're going to be good at it."

The Sunan paused at that, "You can't just say that, you don't _know_." she accused.

It wasn't like him to make proclamations like this.

Shikamaru replied, "Nothing's certain, but my gut is saying that you will be good. Probably better."

"Your gut?" She asked, surprised, "Not your brain?"

"That too," he admitted, "but my gut feeling as well."

She was silent.

"You don't _know."_ she repeated.

"But I believe it," Shikamaru said, "and you've confirmed it to me now."

"What? How?"

He replied simply, "Because we're having this conversation."

 _What?_

"People who worry about being good parents generally do alright."

Temari was genuinely stumped by this answer, it felt almost as if she was sucker punched.

 _Why does he always make everything sound so...simple?_

Finally she couldn't help it and Temari gave out a laugh. Her laugh was incredulous, relieved and it was the type of laughter that shook her shoulders and made her eyes water.

 _He's right. Dammit he's right._

"Is that good laughter or bad laughter?" Shikamaru seemed confused.

The kunoichi grinned, "Wouldn't you like to know." she teased. It was as if a load had left her shoulders and she felt lighter than she had for days.

After she had calmed down Temari had a quick check of her makeup in a hand mirror.

"Right," She said, "I'm fine now. We should head off and do this thing."

To her surprise the shadows embracing her didn't immediately move away.

"Shikamaru?" She asked.

"Can we stay like this a while?" her fiancé replied.

"Why?"

"Just because. Just for a little while."

Temari smiled to herself, it seemed that she wasn't the only one who was scared. Shikamaru had always been stubborn about hiding his fears.

"Just five minutes." she conceded.

They stayed for ten and when they had finally arrived at the ceremony, everybody privately agreed that they were possibly the most relaxed couple that they had seen at a wedding.

 **Wow that got...deeper than I thought it would. It was going to be more comedic than anything else, but I got sidetracked...**

 **I quite like this chapter though, so any thoughts would be much appreciated, whether reviews or PMs would be great. The next chapter will be the last for Shikamaru. We are near the end people!**


	42. Chapter 42 - Shikamaru

It was embarrassing to admit...but Shikamaru was really enjoying married life.

He liked calling Temari his wife ( _"Call me by my name at work" Temari warned him_ ), was weirdly happy to wait for or be greeted by her at the end of the working day, and loved waking up next to her in the morning.

Of course it wasn't easy at points, because every couple have their disagreements. But they were both nothing if not pragmatic and any arguments were resolved quickly. They had more or less been seamlessly assimilated into each other's lives.

Some of this was attributed to two iron cast rules when it came to their professional careers, defined thusly:

1\. Long term missions were generally avoided bar exceptional circumstances

2\. Never let their relationship affect team dynamics during missions

The first rule was kept relatively easily, Shikamaru had been working hard towards his goal of chief adviser and this inevitably meant more meetings than missions. He simply didn't have the time to deal with field work anymore unless it was with his Genin team.

Temari herself had mostly been busy with her ambassadorial role and by the very nature of her job she didn't have many opportunities for long term missions. the kunoichi enjoyed the work and it also gave her plenty of opportunities to visit Sunagakure (as promised Shikamaru tagged along occasionally). However it would be a lie to say that she didn't get a bit restless without participating in fieldwork occasionally. It was when she does that Shikamaru remembered exactly how dangerous his wife could be.

The second rule was mainly there for show, they were nothing if not professionals.

They have been married well over a year when the marriage invitations of their friends flooded in. Shikamaru was always a little annoyed that nobody seemed surprised at his and Temari's relationship _("You two have pretty much been a married couple for years anyway." pointed out Chouji cheerfully. Shikamaru frowned at the chubby man before Ino added triumphantly, "Yeah, I totally called it."_ ) and took great joy in teasing Ino and Chouji when they were giving out their respective invites.

A year also marked the point where they had begun trying for a baby. Temari had just finished hosting the largest seminar of her career, one that she had worked hard on for years, and had successfully seen her latest Genin pupils pass their Chuunin exams _("On their first try." She grinned at him_ ) when one day she sat down and merely offered him two words:

"I'm ready."

He knew instantly what she was talking about. Shikamaru doubted that he had successfully hidden the fact that he had wanted children for a while (he could never hide anything from Temari for long.) So he merely grinned, murmured about how troublesome it all was and allowed himself to be firmly lead into the bedroom by his wife.

The next few months were possibly the most fun that he had ever had in his life.

A pregnant Temari was admittedly a handful sometimes though and it wasn't uncommon for Shikamaru to find himself hunting for obscure and frankly random foodstuffs in the middle of the night.

 _(The three men held onto the last remaining bamboo shoot in the shop. "I'm the oldest." said Chouji not unreasonably, "I'm going to be hokage." argued Naruto loudly and Shikamaru gritted his teeth as he muttered darkly, "I didn't manage to hide her tessen today." The other two gave him a sympathetic look, quickly released the item in question and the shadow shinobi raced out of the doors as if his life depended on it.)_

He wouldn't have it any other way though.

Shikamaru thought this to himself as he sprawled on his favourite spot, this was the first time that he had taken a break in a long while. Temari had shooed him out of the house in order to have a more private conversation with the nurse and he was currently banished for the rest of the day.

He hummed a random tune to himself.

Shikamaru was happy.

His wife and future baby were healthy thus far, he had just been promoted one step closer to his goal and the clouds were beautiful today.

He was happier than he thought possible, happier than he had ever imagined himself capable of within his pre-teen and half formed dreams all those years ago. When he was only a brat who avoided responsibility like the plague and thought he knew everything.

How could he have predicted at the time that in the near future his teacher and father would die, he would have goals his 12 year old self would have run away from and that the biggest shinobi war that the world had ever known was coming?

But strangely enough, by far the most surprising part of his present life was Temari.

Because he had always been prepared for everything else, had been trained to expect death, war and heavy responsibilities. But nothing had prepared him for Temari. Who would have thought a girl who had tried to destroy his village all those years ago, had indeed almost got him killed, would become the most trusted partner in his life?

Temari, who he had dismissed as just another stupid girl with violent tendencies during their first fight.

Temari, who had saved his sorry ass the first of many times and made him think that maybe, just maybe, girls weren't just troublesome beings out to ruin a man's life.

Despite the fact that they weren't from the same village and never made a special effort to meet, Shikamaru had always felt a connection with her on par with his closest friends in Konoha. Despite the fact he had deluded himself for years that their relationship wasn't anything above close acquaintances, just because it felt _different_ from pure friendship, a part of him had known that it was always a little bit more than that.

Temari had seen him at his best, at his worst and in all the stages in between. And she had always pushed him forward, forcing him to be his best when he thought it impossible.

In short, he had married an incredible woman.

She was intelligent, pragmatic, strong, beautiful and all the traits that he had once dismissed as far too troublesome in a wife, and he was never more grateful to be wrong.

With her, his family, his friends and his soon to be born child in his life, Shikamaru currently felt nigh invincible against the world. And it was a wonderful feeling.

* * *

 **This chapter pretty much puts a full stop for Shikamaru's arc for me and** **the next chapter is going to be the last one. I was debating ending it with the shared viewpoints of both of them, but I started with Shikamaru's side of the story and ultimately would like to end it with Temari's side. Symmetry and all.**

 **Let me know how you think Shikamaru has been portrayed throughout this story, he is definitely one of my favourite characters and I hope I've been faithful with his presentation.**


	43. Chapter 43 - Temari

_They are definitely father and son._

Temari watched with tenderness as Shikamaru cradled their crying son carefully, cupping the baby's head gently as if he were made of china. She couldn't help but grin tiredly at the expression of awe on her husband's face, his eyes wet and threatening to spill.

 _Crybabies._

Temari blinked and her own vision became slightly blurred.

 _I guess I'm not one to talk._

"It's alright." Shikamaru spoke to his child, his voice full of emotion and almost as if he were in a trance, "One day, you're going to realise you don't know everything as well as you think."

He took a deep breath but never broke eye contact. Temari didn't know why but she held her breath as well, she knew this was an important moment somehow.

"And when that time comes, you'll have definitely made comrades who will walk side by side with you."

The baby couldn't have understood what was being said, but he quieted down and stared at Shikamaru with wide and intelligent eyes.

Shikamaru continued gazing unblinkingly at his son, quietly murmuring, "I really can't say anything's troublesome from now on, huh…"

"You can say it a little." Temari said affectionately, "If it ever looks like you're getting so bad that you'll stop functioning…"

She gave a wide grin as she played with her son's finger.

"…then I'll intervene and send you flying back to your senses again. So, it's okay."

"Aa, you're right. Then…"

They shared a look and immediately had the same thought,

 _What will we call him?_

Shikamaru finished his sentence, "…How troublesome."

Her husband made space on the bed and carefully, oh so carefully, placed the new-born between them. With one arm cradling the baby, Shikamaru moved his arm and took Temari's hand in the other. He bent and kissed her cheek, before turning to aim for her lips.

"Don't," Temari grimaced, "I'm a mess right now."

Shikamaru smiled and gave her a quick peck anyway, "You always look beautiful to me."

"Since when did you get so smooth?" Temari grinned and her eyes were sparkling, "What happened to the kid who always called girls troublesome and would get beaten up for it?"

"That kid grew up to look for trouble," her husband replied, "Speaking of that, what happened to the girl who always wanted to beat that kid up?"

Temari gave a laugh and leaned into Shikamaru. "The girl went mad and married the kid," she replied.

That the grumpy and lazy brat all those years ago would become her partner in life…it really was strange how life turned out.

Temari had a soft expression on her face as she looked at Shikamaru affectionately, she suspected that he didn't expect to marry someone like her either. A girl from a messed up family who was always desperately hiding her fears from the world.

They had done a lot of growing up since then.

As if complaining about the lack of attention, their baby began wailing again. His parents laughed and shushed him soothingly.

"We haven't forgotten you…" Temari smiled and turned to Shikamaru, "So any ideas for names?"

Shikamaru frowned, "We've never had a chance to talk about it."

She asked, "Didn't you say that Shikaku is out?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied, "Our kid's going to be part of the future. You shouldn't chain children to the past."

"Some people would call that heritage," Temari argued, "We need to teach them about their history."

"I know, that's why we're keeping the naming tradition of "Shika"." He said.

Temari gave him a look then, eyebrow quirked and a small frown on her face, "Oh really now?" she said coolly, "When did we agree on that?"

Shikamaru quickly tensed up, "I mean, that's if you are fine with that of course. It's just that…er…this has always been a quirk of my clan and I see no harm in-"

Temari tried her hardest not to laugh and Shikamaru must have noticed because he paused with a frown, "You're messing with me." He accused.

"Yoshino told me about this tradition already." Temari smiled, "I like it."

Shikamaru stared at her, "You do? You're not going to say that it's stupid or doesn't make sense or-"

"I like it," She repeated firmly, "I've accepted your clan's quirks when I married you."

Temari paused thoughtfully, "The ones I like anyway," she corrected, "And I like this one."

Shikamaru grinned happily and said, "Well that's half a name sorted, what about the rest of it?"

Temari paused thoughtfully as she tickled her son's nose. He sneezed, blinked his bright teal eyes and gurgled with annoyance.

 _He's definitely got a bit of me in him_ , she thought proudly, _he'll be a fighter._

"Shikadai." She finally said, "It's a bit cheesy but…"

Temari glanced in a somewhat self-conscious fashion at Shikamaru, "What do you think?"

Shikamaru gave a slow smile as he stroked his son's head.

"Shikadai…" He rolled the syllables around his tongue, "I think that will do. That'll do just fine."

He grinned at his son with pride, "It's…appropriate."

Temari and Shikamaru smiled happily at each other then. They then returned to gazing at the newly named Shikadai, who had fallen asleep by now.

"He's going to grow up in a different world to us." Shikamaru said quietly.

"He's supposed to." Temari stated, "We worked hard for that."

He smiled at Temari, "We did."

Temari was silent as she remembered all the experiences they have had, all the emotions and all the choices they have made that had somehow lead to two people meeting in this moment. This moment where they are sitting together holding a new-born in their arms.

She squeezed his hand again for his attention and Shikamaru looked at her.

"I love you." Temari said.

Shikamaru looked a little surprised before replying, "I love you too."

"No, I really love you." She insisted.

Shikamaru grinned and gave her a soft kiss, full of his feelings which simple words couldn't convey. Temari closed her eyes and relaxed into the kiss.

"I know." He murmured into her lips, his eyes half closed and his soft breath tickling her.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, their baby was sleeping and they were exactly where they should be and exactly who they chose to be. Neither Temari nor Shikamaru believe in perfection, but for a moment the world was…as close to perfect as it could be.

* * *

 **It's finally finished! Woo let's throw the confetti! I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It wasn't easy and there were definitely better chapters than others, but it was certainly interesting. Thanks to all the lovely reviews and messages that I've received for this, I'm glad that this tiny story has** **brought a little enjoyment to some people's day.**

 **It's a super cheesy happy ending but a bit of cheese is fine every now and again. I like this couple a lot and I like them more now that I have written this. Shikatema will forever be awesome and I will bite anyone who says otherwise.**

 **I'd wanted a nice number (like 50) to end this story on and had actually considered writing up to the boruto movie which I see as semi canon. But I don't want to drag things out unnecessarily, especially as I have passed the peak of my interest in the series for a good long while now (Pretty much after Naruto had rescued Gaara I guess...).**

 **I'm probably going to do a bit of tidying up of the chapters, maybe move all the A/N about. But this is pretty much it for this story.**

 **Once again thanks for sticking around to those who have read this to the end. Especially those who have taken the time to write well thought out and analytical messages which I've hopefully replied to.**

 **Any thoughts you have on this story is most appreciated and welcome at anytime, whether by reviews or PM, even if you've only found this story 5 years on from this message. I might just be the teensiest bit proud that I wrote such a long story...long for me anyway.**

 **Apologies for all the long and rambling A/Ns I've subjected you to! And the excessive sarcasm! And the randomness!**

 **As for future stories...I don't know if I will write anything for a good long while at least.**

 **I hadn't even planned to ever return to this account if not for Shikatema. Who knows? If Izaya ever gets with Namie then maybe...haha that'll never happen.**

 **But right now I need a break. And cookies.**

 **Goodbye and thanks for all the fish!**


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